Toast at the Print House: 14 Employees Honoured with Siurell de Plata

Toast at the Print House: 14 Employees Honoured with Siurell de Plata

Son Valentí | An evening of applause, short portraits and familiar faces

The hall doors in the Son Valentí industrial area opened late in the afternoon, and inside it was warm after a November rain that still lingered in the island’s memory. Between stacks of paper and the quiet hum of the printing machines, colleagues gathered for the traditional Christmas toast — a small but heartfelt ceremony that has marked the turn of the year here for years.

At the centre were the Silver Siurells, awarded since 1998 to employees who have remained loyal to the publishing house for 25 years; this tradition is also reflected in Siurells 2025: A Joyful Evening at Son Termes. This year the silver rider figurines went to 14 people from different departments: sales, advertising, photography, editorial, human resources, IT, printing and production. The range of names reflected the many corners in which a publisher operates — from the technician at the press line to the colleague at reception.

During the honours, short personal sketches alternated with spontaneous anecdotes. One employee told how she once sorted leaflets on Christmas Eve while sneaking a piece of turrón; a colleague from the print shop talked about how a coffee break under the old awning in the Son Valentí parking lot became a fixed habit over the years. Such everyday images made clear that this was about more than forms: it was about shared mornings, missed buses, the smells of printing ink and freshly brewed coffee.

Emotion was provided by short portraits of the awardees: a photo slideshow on a screen showed archive images that several attendees recognized with a smile — a birthday in the break room, a team photo on the Paseo Mallorca before the 2022 move, an impromptu street festival in Palma. After each portrait there was applause, sometimes a few tears, but often hearty laughter above all.

For musical accompaniment someone sat down at the electric piano and played familiar melodies that floated beautifully between the hall walls: a few bars that gently reminded everyone why evenings like this matter. The music gave the room an almost private atmosphere, as if everyone were sitting at one long family table.

Particular emphasis was placed on the role of those team members who had accompanied projects in recent years that went far beyond routine tasks: organisational challenges around the pandemic, the relocation of the editorial office to a new building on Paseo Mallorca a few years ago, and the redesign of print and online appearances. Such milestones connect technical work with editorial passion — and that was exactly what was honoured that evening.

After the awards there was the obligatory group photo, which has now become a fixed ritual. The arrangement took longer than planned because many people wanted to talk: about plans for the next year, about grandchildren, about the recipe for the potato salad that was always popular at the company party. The conversations then turned to the small buffet: sandwiches, Mallorcan pastries (see Guía Repsol honors Mallorca's Christmas Soletes) and a few regional snacks made sure the glasses did not stay empty and the mood remained relaxed.

What makes an evening like this special for the island? It is the mix of familiarity and visible gratitude. In an industry often shaped by tight deadlines and strong competition, such quiet moments of recognition are a sign that work here still leaves human traces. For many present the award marked the close of a chapter; for others it was an incentive to tackle the coming years together.

The celebration was not only an internal event: it also reflects an attitude that suits the island well — appreciation for craft, steadiness and interpersonal bonds. Such signals, alongside the economy and tourism, are an often underestimated element that keeps Mallorca alive: people who stay a long time know the streets, neighbours and suppliers and have a sense of how much continuity matters in daily life.

The outlook? As calm as the final bars of the piano piece, but no less determined: if more companies on the island retain employees and make such commitment visible, a network of experience and reliability emerges that benefits everyone in the end — colleagues, readers, service providers and the neighbourhood around Son Valentí. And one thing is certain for the next edition of this small celebration: the printing machines will fall quiet again as soon as the glasses are raised.

What remains: An evening that showed recognition does not have to be grand to have an impact. In times of change, it is often the simple rituals — a piano piece, a portrait, a silver Siurell — that provide orientation and warmth.