Monthly Archives: February 2010

The Mallorcan Sea Turtle

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The Mallorcan Sea Turtle (Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Castellano: Tortuga boba, Latin: Caretta caretta) is in a pretty vulnerable state, or so the Fundación Aspro Natura Marineland would have us know. Not many loggerheads are found along the European and African coastlines these days. And the few that visit our shores often enough get tangled up in local fishermen’s nets. What a perilous existence, don’t you think? According to Wikipedia, the Mediterranean Sea is a nursery for juvenile loggerheads. Almost 45 percent of the juvenile population in the Mediterranean have migrated from the Atlantic Ocean. Loggerhead turtles feed in the western and eastern basins of the Mediterranean, with Greece being the most popular nesting site with more than 3,000 nests per year.

The Aspro people with the support of the Servicio de Protección de Especies del Govern Balear last year rescued 25 of the biggish turtles in Balearic waters. However, 14 of the saved animals later died from their injuries and the distress they had sustained, and only 11 turtles could be resuscitated, saved and later released back into the Med.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 24th, 2010. The time was 15:48:39. The photo (bottom) was taken from the Internet. My thanks go to diariodemallorca.es.

Muchas gracias.

The Mallorcan Sphinx

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Along the Passeig des Born in Palma de Mallorca two pairs of Mallorcan sphinxes can be found. Originally, the passage was a dry riverbed occasionally filling up with water after heavy rainfalls in the Tramuntana mountains. One such gush of water, in 1403, lead to some severe flooding, resulting in the death of thousands of victims. The water course was duly moved to beyond the city’s expanse and a jousting field was installed in its place. Later, the area was converted into a Boulevard for Palma’s middle classes.

After the death of Fernando VII in 1833, the young Princesa Isabel was named his scion and successor, giving the authorities in Palma the opportunity to commemorate the future monarch with a boulevard in her name. The boulevard was now called Salón de la Princesa. The tortoise fountain was erected and so were the four sphinxes. In later years, the boulevard was given its present name, Paseo del Borne.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 2nd, 2010. The time was 10:53:22. The photo (bottom) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 2nd, 2010. The time was 13:01:50. The photo (top) shows the appearance of one of the sphinxes a few weeks ago, whilst the bottom photo shows the state of the sphinxes in the 1920s.

The Annual Pottery Fair

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This year’s annual pottery fair in Marratxí, the Fira del Fang, takes place from Saturday, February 27th, until Sunday, March 7th. The Fira del Fang has been going since 1984 and this year will celebrate its 26th anniversary. The fair programme includes demonstrations, workshops, exhibitions, conferences, competitions, music, dancing and things. You should go to Marratxí if you are interested in arts and crafts, pottery, kitchen utensils and things done the old traditional way. Make your way to Ses Tres Germanes in Sa Cabaneta (Marratxí) any day between this Saturday and Sunday week, any time between 10h00 and 20h00.

A visit to the Museu des Fang (Pottery Museum) is recommended as well. The museum is also in Sa Cabaneta. Opening hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10h30 am to 13h00.

Enjoy.

The photo was taken in Cas Concos des Cavaller, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: September 13th, 2009. The time was 13:16:59.

Intensive Care

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A couple of days ago we tried to visit a friend in hospital in Palma. Our elderly Mallorcan friend had been involved in a rather bad accident. A motorist knocked him of his scooter and, being in a bad state, he was taken by ambulance to the Intensive Care Unit in Son Dureta‘s, and that’s where we wanted to visit him. We got there alright, but we were not allowed to see him. We did not know the valid visiting hours or had been misinformed. We were kept waiting for a good 30 minutes before we gave up and went back home again.

If you want to see someone at Son Dureta and in the Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, you have to go between 08h00 and 08h30, 13h00 to 13h30 or 20h00 to 20h30, or not go at all. Visiting hours may be at different times somewhere else, but you better check before you go. If not, you may find yourself in front of closed doors, just like us (see photo).

Our friend, by the way, seems to be out of danger by now. He is no longer in a coma, and is expected to be discharged from the UCI either today or tomorrow. Not to his home yet, but a happy ending nevertheless, we hope.

The photo was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 23rd, 2010. The time was 14:23:53.

Gravediggers

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You might remember that I told you about my female postman before, the one I am on kissing terms with. Imagine my surprise when yesterday she let on that she was applying for the job of gravediggeress(?), here, at the Municipal cemetery of Felanitx. Apparently, the oposiciones (entrance exams) are held today. All applicants have to sit these exams, and it seems that 13 people in total are applying for the vacancy. The exams are both, written as well as practical, in such matters as concrete mixing and stuff.

I hope she does well, my post office lady, even though I shall be sorry to see her go. Of course, I might well need her new services one day but, naturally, not on a daily basis.

When I went to our cemetery yesterday I managed to speak to one of the gravediggers in charge. They not only place the coffins into their respective graves or niches, they are also responsible for all the cemetery’s maintenance, including the gardening, pruning, cleaning and generally, keeping a clean ship, so to speak. The very friendly man told me that this Felanitx cemetery was inaugurated in 1814 and thus, will be coming up for its bicentenary in a couple of years’ time. The Felanitx cemetery is one of the nicer ones on the island, as far as I am concerned. It is not quite as special as the one in Sóller, and it lacks the distant views to the sea that the one in Son Servera offers, but, with Puig des Calvari and Puig de Sant Salvador in its proximity as a backdrop, it makes for a very special setting.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 23rd, 2010. The time was 13:35:28.

Franco’s Coat Of Arms Is Erased

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The monument in the Parc de La Feixina with its origins in the Spanish Guerra Civil has now been cleared of its, for some, provocative inscriptions and in particular, its offensive fascist heraldic emblem, the Franquist coat of arms.

The monument will not be pulled down, after all, but will apparently now receive a new inscription paying homage to the victims of all wars and any dictatorship. The Catalan text will read as follows:

“Aquest monument va ser erigit l’any 1945 en record de les víctimes de l’enfonsament del Creuer Balears durant la Guerra Civil (1936-1939). Avui és la per la Ciutat símbol de la voluntat democràtica de no oblidar mai els errors de les guerres i les dictadures.“

You may be interested to know, however, that the offensive coat of arms from Franco’s dictatorship can still be found in a number of other locations in Palma de Mallorca.

The photo was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 2nd, 2010. The time was 11:36:04.

The Visit

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When I stepped out of my front door the other day, Paquita, my neighbour came out of her house at the same moment. She carried a strange wooden object which stirred my curiosity. What’s that, I inquired, thinking she might be taking a family heirloom to her car.

It turned out that Paquita carried a house altar to the home of a neighbour further up our street. The altar represented the Sagrada Famila (Holy Family) and was a religious object pertaining to the Teatines order. The altar was shared between a total of 34 families in Felanitx, for one day at a time on a rotating basis. My neighbour had had Maria and Josep with the little Jesus for the previous day, and now it was the turn of Margalida, another friendly vecina. Apparently, a number of such Theatinesian altar boxes make the rounds in Felanitx and, who knows, in other Mallorcan villages as well. What a delightful little custom.

The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: January 29th, 2010. The time was 12:13:07.

Daisies Daisies

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What a lovely day we had yesterday in most parts of the island.

I saw a lovely field full of the Mediterranean Daisy (Bellis sylvestris) yesterday. Its Catalan name is Bellorita which is probably quite suitable. In Castellano the plant is called Margalida, Margalideta, Margaridoia or Primavera (Spring), again more than fitting considering that we are only 28 days or four weeks away from the official first day of Spring.

The little gem of a flower is thought to have its name Daisy by way of a corruption of day’s eye, because the whole head closes at night and opens again in the morning. This Mediterranean wild flower offers a whole string of medicinal properties. The other good thing about the Daisy is that its leaves are edible and can be used in salads. And it grows everywhere in Mallorca, absolutely free, for nothing.

Some rain is forecast for today with some snow in the mountains (above 1,400 m). Temperatures are said to increase from tomorrow, though.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 20th, 2010. The time was 12:31:03.

Cleaning Out My Cupboard

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Hey, I’m not implying it’s time for a spring clean even though spring will be in the air very soon. A bit of dusting up might not be a bad idea, though; the way our grannies did things was not always detrimental to our well-being or comfort.

I went to Palma’s La Seu Cathedral yesterday and spotted this array of cleaning utensils. I could not resist taking a shot and showing you the image. I’m interested in the facts behind the facts, so to speak, and in the story behind the story. Yes, we admire the Cathedral for its history, for its architecture, for its grandeur, for its splendid adornments, for its church services, for its beautiful sound, for its soul, for its pomp, for the altercations it might arouse, for its light, for the mind-numbing precision in mathematical calculations of its master plan, for the hidden skeletons it holds beneath its walls, whatever. I estimate that perhaps 2,000 visitors came to the Catedral yesterday and I wonder how many of those have given a thought about the up-keep and maintenance, the cleaning and the polishing that is needed day-in, day-out just to make sure La Seu looks spick and span for another few hundred years and another few million visitors.

I’m not sure who is in charge of the worldly side of things at the Cathedral; it might well be the Sacristán, a nice bearded man who one can see at the cathedral seemingly being in love with whatever he does. I think the cleaning ladies and men (?) probably like their work too, or so the cleanliness of their workplace would suggest. Muchas gracias, señoras y señores.

The photo was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 19th, 2010. The time was 12:49:49.

A Bigger Splash

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When British artist, David Hockney, painted his canvas A Bigger Splash (see photo below) in Malibu, California, in the early summer of 1967, it was the record of a typical warm, sunny, cloudless day. From the position of the shadows cast by the building and the chair, it would have been midday when the sun is highest in the sky and the heat is most intense. The solitary figure, just dived into the pool, has been deliberately overwhelmed by the strength and composure of the rest of the composition. The hidden depths of this picture take longer to assimilate than its immediate joyful and decorative appeal …

I, on the other hand, took the photograph A Bigger Splash (above) in Cala Mesquida, Capdepera, Mallorca, in the late winter of 2010. It was a rather untypically warm, sunny day with some clouds. The composition is completely different, with more emphasis on the waves’ persistent surge and their urgent break. Midday has turned into early afternoon; the sun is low; any heat is absent. The light is not intense; no shadows are cast.

Both images are strong, one for its composition of superficiality, the other for its thrilling display of the force of nature.

The photo (top) was taken near Capdepera, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 18th, 2010. The time was 14:30:29. The photo (bottom) was taken from the Internet. My thanks go to newmediaspace.co.uk.

Thank you very much also to David Hockney for his inspiration.