Majorca holidays

Palma The Feast of Santa Lucía

spainholidays — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:05:09 +0000

Mallorca’s resident Swedish community has been celebrating this saint’s feast day in typical-Swedish style in Plaza de Cort every December 13 since 1985.

Palma de Mallorca -The Feast of Santa Lucía

The act kicks off with a Christmas fair in the Plaza that customarily opens around 6:00 p.m and offers typical Swedish products. Before the event’s protagonists arrive, the city’s municipal band normally entertains onlookers with a concert that calls them to gather round in front of the Town Hall.

At around 8:00 p.m, after a short parade along Palma’s most central streets, a young girl playing Santa Lucia enters the plaza accompanied by her retinue. The participants carry lit candles, the very symbol of the festivity. Most are garbed in white tunics belted with glittering ribbons and white, star-embellished pointed hoods, while others are dressed as St. Nicolas. Santa Lucia stands out among them all thanks to her blazing crown with floral motifs. Palma’s elegant Town Hall with its Christmas lights serves as the backdrop to the event, which includes charming Christmas carols in different languages, sung by a choir mostly made up of children from Mallorca’s Swedish School. Rounding off the celebration is the reception municipal authorities offer participants, who thus proffer their Christmas wishes to all Palma’s residents in this way.

More information: www.illesbalears.es

Fiestas de San Agustín in Felanitx

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:11:58 +0000

Cavallets and dimoni are featured in the San Agustín saint’s day festivities in the Mallorcan town of Felanitx, which also includes concerts, street bands and sporting events.

Mallorca - Fiestas de San Agustín in Felanitx

The celebrations officially kick off with the opening proclamation, which gives way to a jam-packed week of cultural activities, sports, games and musical performances and concerts at night for young people.

One of the highpoints of the festival is Els Cavallets: a series of ritual fertility dances that date back to the founding of the Convent of Sant Agustí in 1603.

Els Cavallets are enacted by 6 children between the ages of 10 and 13 who dance around a lady dressed in a costume that imitates a pony. The children wear green hats with white trimming and red costumes with touches of white. The part of the lady is played by a girl dressed in white and pink with a green jacket and a red hat. She uses a finely embroidered handkerchief to mark the musical beat and signals the dancers’ entrances.

The dances have different names: els Canvis, Pas Nou, Passeig, Rotllet, ses Esses, etc. and are performed to the accompaniment of bagpipes, flutes and drums. A demon runs and leaps from one side to another chasing the children while els Cavallets dance.

Els Cavallets perform twice during the celebrations in Felanitx: once on the Sunday before the feast of Sant Agustí during the parade of street bands in the evening and again in the morning on the feast day itself, August 28, after the mass.

More information: www.illesbalears.es

Palma The Procession of the Beata, St. Catalina Thomas

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:10:06 +0000

The city of Palma demonstrates St. Catalina Thomàs’ popularity with Palma residents and Mallorcans in general with a traditional profession of floats, music and dances on the third Saturday in October.

Palma de Mallorca -The Procession of the Beata, St. Catalina Thomàs

This celebration has been a practice since 1792, the year in which Catalina Thomàs was beatified. Each year, the streets in the centre of Palma brim with the colour and tradition that accompany the floats, musicians and folklore groups from all over the island who, along with other city residents, pay homage to the saint who inspires the most devotion and popularity in Mallorca: St. Catalina Thomàs, better known as the Beata or Beateta.

A solemn mass talks place in the Church of Santa Magdalena in the morning that includes a girl who represents the Santa Catalina and will later ride on the main float during the parade that takes place in the evening. Upon its conclusion, participants and the general public gather in one of the city’s plazas for traditional folkdances. Several towns on the island hold major celebrations in her honour every year, among them Valldemossa (late July), Santa Margalida (the first week of September) and Vilafranca de Bonany (late July).

More information: www.illesbalears.es

Palma The Feast of Corpus Christi

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:03:54 +0000

Corpus Christi, celebrated sixty days after Easter Sunday, is a colourful, traditional holiday in Palma. Corpus Christi, the Feast of the Body and Blood, is a major Catholic holiday with a mass and procession in honour of the Holy Eucharist.

Palma de Mallorca - The Feast of Corpus Christi

The religious ceremony in Palma Cathedral begins with the exposition of the Eucharist and vespers sung by the choir. Immediately afterwards, the Bishop of Mallorca presides over a solemn mass in the recently dedicated Chapel of El Santísimo.

The Corpus Christi procession begins at the Cathedral once mass is over and makes its ways along calle Palau Reial, calle del Mirador, calle Palau, calle Sant Pere Nolasc, calle d’en Morey, Plaza de Santa Eulàlia, calle de la Cadena and Plaza de Cort, to wind up at the Cathedral once again. The striking floral carpets at the Cathedral’s main portal and Plaza de Cort were arranged by volunteers from workshops in Palma’s cultural centres.

Participating in the procession will be the Tamborers de la Sala (drummers), cossiers and cavallets (the island’s oldest folkdances), Eucharistic banners, the Lledània (a monumental cross of wax flowers, which was restored by Catherine Bordoy and volunteers from S’Escorxador Cultural Centre), the faithful, the Basilica insignia, the clergy, the Cathedral Chapter, the Presidency of the Bishop of Mallorca, the monstrance and the Palma Municipal Band.

More information: www.palmademallorca.es

Gegants i Capgrossos

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:57:54 +0000

The Gegants i Capgrossos (giants and big-heads) form part of the festive tradition all over Spain, especially in Menorca and Mallorca, where these enormous figures play an important role in the popular festivals.

Mallorca - Gegants i Capgrossos

The history of these figures has not been without adversity. The earliest reference to the Gegants i Capgrossos dates back to 1630 and is located in Sóller. Apparently they were acquired by the town council, where they were used to liven up the Corpus Christi processions.

A century later, in 1734, the Palma City Council adopted the same idea when they bought the first four pairs of giants, which symbolised the different continents in the world. But the suspicion and opposition of the church hierarchy led to their disappearance shortly after.

New liberal changes emerged at the beginning of the 20th Century, and Palma recovered these figures. It was at that time that the gegants Tòfol and Francinaina were created, the legendary pair of pageses or country folk who today stand guard at the entrance of Palma City Hall in the Plaça de Cort.

Actually, the ones you can see today are not the real ones, but rather a reproduction made in the early 1970s. In 1936 this pair of gegants travelled to Barcelona to take part in the Universal Exhibition, but the outbreak of the Spanish civil war prevented their return and since then, nobody knows about their whereabouts.

Very traditional figures

All this history behind them makes them figures of great popular tradition in the islands. In fact, since 1998 a Trobada de Gegants (Giants Festival) has been held in Palma with the participation of giants and big-heads from all over the islands and elsewhere.

During the festivals, they are brought out into the streets and participate in the people’s festivities from their enormous height and wearing their curious traditional dress. One pair which is always present is that formed by the xeremiers and the flabiolets who provide the music. The former play a type of bagpipes (xeremia) and the latter the flute.

There are various associations dedicated to the Gegants i Capgrossos in Menorca and Mallorca.

More information: www.illesbalears.es

Palma Fira del Ram

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0000

The Fira del Ram is an amusement park that brings together attractions by the hundred and visitors by the thousands every year. March/April.

Palma de Mallorca - Fira del Ram

Some consider it the finest in the country, with explosive new rides that will set the adrenalin of more daring visitors racing in sensations of vertigo and speed.

There are less heart-stopping attractions as well, such as the witch’s train or the Ferris wheel, which alternate with more exciting rides, such as spaceships, speedy airplanes, hammers, pirate ships and rapids, and tombolas for those who prefer to try their luck with their feet firmly on the ground.

The venue teems with colour, light and sound for an action-packed afternoon in the company of family and friends and there are refreshment stands so visitors can replenish their strength before going on with the fun.
Fun-filled excitement for children and adults alike for yet another year.

More information: www.illesbalears.es/

Diada celebration

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:27:26 +0000

A number of institutional acts and activities for residents, such as concerts, conferences and sporting events at sea and in the mountains, take place on this day in Mallorca.

Mallorca Diada celebration

Mallorca’s Diada celebration, which takes place on September 12, commemorates the oath taken by King James II in 1276 to uphold a charter entitled Carta Franqueses i privilegis del Regne de Mallorca, a series of advantageous rights granted by the king to the kingdom of Mallorca, which formed the legal basis of the community’s standing.

The franqueses was exemptions from certain norms or customs and the privilegis were rights granted exclusively to a city or region. Through them, King James II of Mallorca guaranteed islanders a series of rights and liberties that allowed them to live unrestricted by many of the feudal tributes that were almost universally widespread in Europe.

Mallorca’s institutions sponsor a wide array of activities during September.

More information: www.illesbalears.es

Revetla de Sant Joan

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:26:13 +0000

On the eve of Midsummer Day, many towns in the Illes Balears celebrate its magical night. Fire is the main attraction, to dance around the bonfires to the beat of the music or to join the ritual of purification.

Mallorca Revetla de Sant Joan

Several cities and towns in the Illes Balears celebrate the Nit de Sant Joan, including Palma, Calvià, Deià, Muro, Felanitx, Son Servera and Sant Joan, on Majorca; Formentera, the city of Eivissa, Santa Eulàlia des Riu and Sant Joan de Labritja.

Bonfires are organised at the squares on the night of 23rd June, and music and dancing are also to be found, filling everyone at the gathering with glee. The magical hour is midnight, when it is time to take part in the ritual of purification by means of fire. According to tradition, something old or a piece of paper upon which we have written down everything we would like to change must be thrown into the bonfire. While it is burning in the flames, we jump three times in a row.

On 24th June St John the Baptist’s Day is celebrated; he who was born in Judaea, was the nephew of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and who died beheaded in the year 27 at the request of Salome, the daughter of Herodias. The fact that it coincides with the summer solstice, with the longest day and the shortest night, has contributed to the magic acquired by this festival since time forgotten.

Horse Show in Ciutadella
But the event which most represents this festival doubtlessly takes place in Ciutadella, Minorca. The Sunday before St John’s Day, a man roams the streets barefoot dressed in leather, representing the saint and inviting everyone to participate. On the 24th, the enormous square in Ciutadella fills with people to see the caixers, pagesos, the casat, the fadrí, the senyor and the capellà, accompanied by cavallers and the fabioler, who play the shawm. The caracoles of horses mounted by expert horsemen is a worthwhile show.

The Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró (in Palma) celebrates St John’s Day with open house. Besides visiting the rooms, one can participate in activities and workshops. In Sant Joan (Majorca) the Festa Sol que Balla is organised, with displays of agricultural machinery, farm produce, plants and an exhibition of tondre amb estisores (sheepshearing).

More information: www.illesbalears.es

Palma Saint Bernat Procession

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:24:53 +0000

One of the most outstanding celebrations to take place in the city of Palma in this year’s programme of summer festivities is the well-known Saint Bernat Procession on 19th August, origin of which dates from the time of the founding of the Secar de la Real Monastery, and during which the pilgrims would travel to the monastery to be blessed and be presented with a gift of basil leaves.

Palma de Mallorca - Saint Bernat Procession

This festivity is one of the oldest traditions of Mallorca, already documented in the year 1232, just shortly after the Catalan-Aragonese conquest of the island and when the first stone of the islands’ oldest religious building was placed. Authorities and visitors alike overflow along the path and Saint Bernat square during an evening that according to popular saying is in charge of putting out the suffocating heat of the Balearic Islands summer. Also on Wednesday the 19th, as of 21:30 hours, the procession will be entertained by traditional dance groups.

More information: www.balearsculturaltour.es

Dijous Bo in Inca

spainholidays — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:23:00 +0000

Inca is known as the city of leather and fairs and not in vain, since within the space of just one month it celebrates four of Mallorca’s most popular festivities, the last of which is Dijous Bo, a combination of trade, culture and sports activities.

Mallorca Dijous Bo in Inca

The first fair takes place on the first Sunday after St Luke’s Day (October 18), g a tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages, and the two following fairs take place on the two following Sundays. Although Sunday is the main day of the three fairs, their respective activities programmes usually begin on Friday.

Each fair revolves around a theme: the first it is dedicated to the zone’s farm and culinary products. Wines play a stellar role and there is a wide-ranging plant and flower exhibition.

The second fair was especially conceived with young people in mind and features a programme that focuses on the world of motors, leisure and sport that turns the streets of Inca into a all-purpose track.

The third fair is also known as Fira d’Època and features events that revolve around the more or less remote past, and include an antique car rally, activities related to the city’s history, a medieval market and more.

The fourth fair does not take place on the following Sunday, but instead on the next Thursday. Known as Dijous Bo, it is Mallorca’s largest fair and includes an extensive range of activities, with several exhibits of local breeds of farm animals, one of most famous of which is porc negre (black pork), which is raised on Mallorca’s meadows and in its sparse woods to make exquisite sobrassada with a distinctively sweet taste.

The exhibitions also include farm machinery, motoring, a crafts market, culinary products and a fashion show that features the latest leather creations. Cultural exhibitions, sport activities and street concerts are also planned.

Over time, the day before Dijous Bo has taken on its own protagonism and is called Dimecres Bo. Celebrations of all kinds make it a good excuse to go out on the night before the most festive Thursday of the year.

The train that connects Palma with Inca is a good alternative to driving and the most convenient way to reach the fairs.

Inca City Council telephone number: 971 880 150.

More information: www.dijousbo.es , www.ajinca.net

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