IT’S definitely not hi-tech, the comfort value isn’t much to write home about, and don’t expect to be served eats or drinks. Yet, its popularity never fades among holidaymakers around the world.

Welcome to the Soller train, officially titled the Tren de Soller, a magical holiday experience which – despite all the other delights on offer in Mallorca – is still pulling in a million passengers a year.

Opened in 1912, the train has come through thick and thin to chalk up the 100-year landmark.

Teams of workmen battled through mountains, constructing 13 tunnels, to build what was then a vital connection for inhabitants and cargoes to be carried from Soller, in the north, to the capital city, Palma.

It was a massive success story, and it worked brilliantly until improved road links in later years cast a shadow over the long term future of the narrow gauge railway. Thank goodness the 1950s tourism boom emerged and proved a life-saver.

On most days, especially in high season, it’s a scramble as passengers climb aboard wooden Wild West-style carriages, polished until they gleam.

A 28 euro return ticket takes sightseers from the heart of Palma on a memorable 27.6 kilometre journey. It embraces spectacular landscapes, the tunnels, several bridges, and a five-arched viaduct, before the train trundles into Soller, a picturesque town fringed by the spectacular Tramuntana mountain range.

And it isn’t only the train celebrating. Holiday hotels, apartments, and a vast range of tourist-linked holiday businesses are marking the time in the 50s when Mallorca took off.

More than 60 years later, and despite a worldwide recession, the island is more than holding its own. All of this is music to the ears of people such as husband and wife team Martin and Lorraine Xamena who run the wonderful, four star BonSol hotel which spills down a hillside at Illetas, overlooking the Bay of Palma.

The hotel, which arranged special events to mark its 60th birthday, started life as a large, old villa. It grew and grew and eventually led to a totally stunning expansion project.

It required three tunnels to be built under two roads, and the installation of lifts, so that the hotel and its magnificent facilities could spread down the hill to a beautiful sandy cove.

The BonSol’s success story is remarkable, and most of the credit is due to painstaking attention to detail, the warmth of its welcome, and service that always comes with a smile. Small wonder that one grateful, and delighted, visitor returned 98 times before he saw his last sunset.