BON SOL

Sun for the body, who knows, maybe that’s what Don Antonio Xamena thought when he looked out to sea from the top of the small promontory of Illetas. In the 1950s, all that part of the coast was undeveloped, that house on the hill was the only visible construction, the rest was untouched nature. The bet of a visionary, what others could not see, he had already drawn in his mind: a hotel or rather a hostel, which at that time had only 14 rooms. 

His intuition was extraordinary, in a way a leap in the dark, especially if it is contextualised in the post-war period, when Spain, despite not having entered the world war, was in a deep economic crisis aggravated by the autarchy, isolated internationally, with a Europe on the other hand in full economic boom with the pull of the Marshall Plan and the reconstructions. In 1953 Spain was still a long way from the ‘Spanish economic miracle’ that would develop in the 1960s thanks to the approval of economic reforms and a striking collaboration with the United States. Palma airport was officially inaugurated in 1960 and before that date there were only a few very small airlines in the Balearics, tourism was still to be developed and connections were almost non-existent, travel times were very long and mostly by sea.

One has to look at that choice with the eyes of the times and not with those of today, where big funds and international chains open luxury hotels on the island every year, Mallorca continues to ‘brew’ wonderful places, especially in the luxury segment, the city has become one of the ten best places to live in the world and even big businessmen like Amancio Ortega (Zara) have bought beautiful boutique hotels in the historic centre, but all this was not foreseeable, not even thinkable in the 50’s.

The economy was nil, tourism was practically non-existent, undeveloped and unsupported by an adequate transport system, and yet Don Antonio Xamena had seen an opportunity where others only saw rocks, he had put the first brick on top of that hill. A risky gamble in a complex historical period, but the lure of the sea and the sun had been stronger than any warning. That view over the bay of Palma and the marvellous cove at its feet had bewitched him.

This is how we would like to imagine the founder of Hotel Bonsol, standing looking out to sea, kissed by the sun and caressed by the wind with his beloved wife, Roger Toro, at his side, laboriously building the future of a hotel that has set the standard for a different idea of family hospitality: that of a home away from home.

This is the story of a family hotel, of a man who made a dream come true guided only by his heart, the sun and that peace that only the sea can give. Thank you Don Antonio for believing in this great little project called Hotel Bonsol, which for more than 70 years continues to look at the sea from the same perspective, putting heart and soul into it, always following the good sun, or Bon Sol as we would say in Mallorcan