INTERVIEW with VALESKA, owner of the BAR ESPERANZA
Live your life the way you want it!
Valeska runs together with Clemens the Bar Esperanza on the beautiful natural, child-friendly beach Es Trenc in the south of Mallorca, located in the tiny village of Ses Covetes. Their charisma makes the bar special. No matter if at noon, in the afternoon or in the evening, you will always enjoy the stay and of course kids are welcome. That’s why Bar Esperanza is one of our favorite places in Mallorca.
You are both from Dusseldorf, Germany. Why did you open a beach bar in Mallorca?
We have always loved traveling. However, never to Mallorca, more to Ibiza, but especially to Southeast Asia and South America. Then Clemens, my husband, had a job as a food journalist in Mallorca. The second time here, we discovered that Mallorca is an ideal place to live in the sun. Not small, but not too big. And Palma is a great city, especially for the winter months. We always knew that one day we wanted to live by the sea.
Our vision was to operate a small guesthouse. But one day we found this bar in Es Trenc. So we switched our plans from hostel to bar.
Your Bar Esperanza is located in the south of Mallorca. What do you especially like about the area here?
The beach Es Trenc is our absolute favorite beach in Mallorca. We love that it stretches over several kilometers, is so natural and has a very good water quality. Here in the area you can feel the proximity to the sea and the salt in the air. That always awakens my childhood memories when we often went to Belgium to the sea.
How did you come up with the name “Bar Esperanza”?
Esperanza is the name of the owner of the house. It is an old lady of over 90 years. Since the handover was very emotional, we wanted to remember her by name.
The interior of your Bar Esperanza is characterized by your own individual style! How did you come up with the idea of installing a school of fish on the ceiling or painting a giant whale on the wall? Where do you get the inspiration from?
I really like an unobtrusive, simple vintage style. The school of fish comes from an artist from Felanitx. We also got inspired by mobiles and so we put 88 fish in the middle of our bar under the ceiling. The whale was designed by Pink Crab, a friendly artist couple. Meanwhile, the whale has become one of our Bar Esperanza logos and is often used, for example on our T-shirts or our own wine.
The bar is a place that grows. For example, we had the big tables made by a carpenter of old wood from the salt pans of Ses Salines. The chairs, on the other hand, come from a former circus from Bavaria. We collect many ideas during our travels. For example, the big lampshades come from Bali. The pillows are sewn from old vintage Berber Marrakech blankets. From our last vacation in South America, I had brought the idea for the pumpkin lamps. I designed them by myself.
You love traveling! Although most of the times you and Clemens are working in the bar personally, in the last few years you have managed to free up time to go on big trips with your two children. How do manage this?
We see it the other way around. For us it was clear that we want to create our everyday life in such a way that we still could travel the world. In the slightly calmer winter time, we usually close the bar for two months. Our sons go to a flexible private school. For us it is important to show our kids all the things that travel gives us: change of perspective through distance from the point of view, not taking yourself too seriously and not taking your own life for granted. We want to show them that there are so many ways to shape your life.
Last question: What are your personal favorite places where you all like to go together as a family?
A very special place for us is the most southern point of Mallorca, Cap de Ses Salines with the lighthouse. The place has something almost mystical, as the sea claps against the surf and on the rocks you will find small stones turrets everywhere. Being here gives us strength.
We also love the most northern point of Mallorca and Son Serra de Marina. When we have a full day off, we love to take a family trip there.
During the week, after picking up the kids from school, we often make a detour to Ciudad Jardin, the city beach of Palma,. The kids can play in the sand or water and there is a playground right on the beach. Very relaxing!
We hope the interview inspired you as much as us! If so, leave a comment here. And if you’re going to Mallorca, check out the Bar Esperanza and say hi to Valeska! It will be a pleasure to her!
