The basket man of Carrer de la Corderia

I found Mimbrería Vidal by accident and fell in love. I call it “the basket man”. It is one of my five favourite places in Palma and the coolest basket shop I have ever seen.

The shop opened on Carrer de la Corderia in 1925, when Lluís Palmer began selling rope, household goods and woven pieces. Tomàs Vidal took over in 1955, which explains the two founding dates found in earlier drafts: 1925 is the shop's beginning; 1955 marks the Vidal family's arrival. The business later expanded into the neighbouring premises and remains one of Palma's emblematic traditional shops.

When I walk in, the city seems to change pace. Baskets fill the shop from floor to ceiling: traditional shopping baskets and practical household pieces of the kind used for almost everything on the island. I always stay for a while, looking for the odd, unique objects hidden among the everyday ones.

The thing I always buy is the ordinary traditional basket. On Mallorca I can use it as a shopping bag, a grocery basket, a laundry basket or the classic bag for a day at the beach. Its usefulness is part of its beauty.

A father and son work in the shop. The son prefers not to talk. He is happier sitting with a piece of furniture, repairing a broken woven seat by hand. His father talks much more, in an old form of Mallorquín that I find wonderful to hear.

We speak a little every time I visit. We understand each other without understanding, if you know what I mean. Some conversations need less shared vocabulary than you might think.

I love the quiet sensory world of natural fibres — the dry scent of wicker and rattan, the roughness of rope, the small differences that show a hand has been involved. Nothing here needs a fake “local” label; the place is simply getting on with the work.

For me, this is slow shopping in the best sense. I take time to look properly because the most interesting object may not be the first one I see. It may be hiding among the baskets that quietly get on with everyday island life. And if nothing unusual calls to me, the classic basket will still earn its place at home.

I visit on weekday mornings. The midday closure is real, and Palma has no obligation to reorganise itself around my shopping list.