The Fogerons of Sant Antoni are one of the highlights of Mallorca’s traditional calendar of Festes, coinciding with the farmers’ patron saint day and the Festa de Sant Antoni. Tomorrow will be the day of Sant Antoni, with Fogerons (bonfires) being lit and Dimonis being burned at the stakes, all over the island.

To spread out the festivities, the lighting of the fires will be staggered from town to town and from Pueblo to Pueblo. Manacor and Sa Pobla, for instance, will celebrate their Sant Antoni fires tonight. Yesterday, they were setting up the fires and putting the last touches to the effigies of the saint and his temptations.

Other villages light their fires over the next few days. Felanitx’s turn will be on Sunday, January 22nd. You might want to check the local particulars with your usual gossip contacts, perhaps in your corner bar or at the petrol station.

Part of the Sant Antoni festivities is the blessing of the animals (Beneïdes). Horses, sheep and goats will be paraded outside the village church with the parish priest sprinkling holy water over the flocks. Some individuals, youngsters perhaps, will also parade their birds, cats, dogs, turtles and hamsters before the authorities, even rats and snakes, to afford them their blessings. The Beneïdes are usually held on a different day than the Fogerons. Please check locally for your own Pueblo.

Pollença will celebrate Sant Antoni in particular style with the Pi de Sant Antoni being hauled into town from Son Ternelles tomorrow, January 17th, at 14h00. The town’s younger males will attempt to climb the soaped-up pine trunk at 20h00 to claim the prize. If you have not seen the Pi de Sant Antoni in Pollença, this is the time to go up north.

The photos were taken in Manacor, Mallorca, Spain. The date: January 15th, 2012. The time was 13:58:29 and 13:55:17, respectively.