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Walking around Palma centre yesterday, I was struck by how busy some shops are compared with others. So here’s my brief guide to which shops are currently attracting the customers, pandemic notwithstanding.

Watch repairers. Although it feels as though time is standing still for most of us on the island, if time is actually standing still for some watch owners then they need to get those time pieces fixed. A broken watch may be right twice a day but it’s no use to man nor beast when checking whether your parking ticket is about to run out.

Bakers. You can’t keep Mallorcans from their daily bread. Most bakers have a queue outside and some customers even bring a snack or sandwiches to sustain themselves while queueing. When you finally get to the counter and the over-weight assistant says sorry about the wait, don’t say no problem, you’ll lose it one day. It’s an old joke.

Vintage clothes. Pre-owned cashmere has been flying off the shelves in vintage clothes stores. Just in case we’re ever allowed out again. Lived-in Levi’s are also very popular which is sort of like buying a car dealer’s demonstrator where someone else has had all the running-in teething issues to get through and all you have to do is drive it away or, in this case, pull on a pair. No sitting in a cold bath for hours to shrink the jeans; someone’s already done it for you. Perfect.

Hairdressers. To prevent us all from looking like 21st century hippies, hairdressers are doing a sterling job in keeping Mallorcans trimmed and coiffured. Even better is the fact that the stylists are wearing masks so the usual humdrum conversation of holidays, politics and gossip is curtailed as a mask-wearing cutter using a blow dryer eliminates all possibility of being heard. For myself this is a great blessing and I’m visiting my hairdresser now much more frequently than before the pandemic.

Chris Ogilvie-Taylor

Palma