Category Archives: Events

The Dragonera Event

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Sa Dragonera is a small and rather beautiful island, just off the coast of Sant Elm, at the Western-most point of Mallorca. In 1995, the island was declared a Parque Natural (Nature Reserve) and has enjoyed environmental protection ever since.

For the last twenty years, an annual kayaking event has taken place there, involving a 13 km long Volta a Sa Dragonera by canoe or kayak, and so again this Sunday just gone. I wish I was fitter than I am and in a more suitable athletic shape; I would really like to participate in one of these festively sportive challenges. A challenge it is every time; even though there is neither a race nor a winner, but the currents of the open sea on the western shore of Sa Dragonera can apparently be quite strenuous, depending on wind and weather.

For the last two years, there has also been a similar swimming contest, the Volta a Sa Dragonera nedant, an open water swimming challenge but also, non-competitive. The course is over a distance of 10 km, and all they got at the end was a lousy T-shirt. No, I’m only joking. A total of 110 swimmers participated in the event last May, including extreme swimmer Anna Wardley from the UK. Ms. Wardley had earlier swum the English Channel and the Straits of Gibraltar. She has recently embarked on a 5ive Island Swim Challenge for charity purposes, a series of five extreme swims around Dragonera (done), Portsea (Hampshire, UK), Jersey (Channel Islands), Tiree (Inner Hebrides, Scotland) and the Isle of Wight (Solent, UK). Not bad for a female who used to work in Public Relations. She actually commented that the Dragonera swim proved to be much tougher than she had expected. I bet. Well done, in any case. One done and four to go, Anna. Best of luck.

The photos were borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of flickr.com/photos/jmdiazpalmer (top), ultra-quim.blogspot.com.es (centre) and annawardley.com (bottom).

Thank you very much,

muchas gracias, and

moltes gràcies.

Poesia de la Mediterrània

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I cannot think of many wine-producing regions that would put poetry on their wine labels, let alone poems by an Arab poet. In  Mallorca they do, at least one Bodega does, Vins Can Majoral in Algaïda, on their Butibalausí Rosat (Rosé) wine.

Here is the poem, Els Vasos (Goblets), by Idris Ibn-al-Yaman al-Sabini al-Yabisi (Eivissa, 10th/11th century):

Eren feixucs els vasos quan a nosaltres arribaran,
emperò en omplir-se de vi pur s’alleugeriren
i a punt de volar amb el seu contingut d’igual manera
que els cossos s’alleugeren amb els esperits.

The goblets were heavy when they were brought to us,
but when filled with pure wine they became so light
that they almost flew up high with it
just as the bodies are lifted up high by the spirits.

I’m telling you this because tomorrow night, June 14th, the XIV Festival de Poesia de la Mediterrània 2012 will hold its Nit de la poesia at the Teatro Principal in Palma, at 21h00. Admission is free, no wine will be served.

La Crisis did not stop the festival from being staged once more this year, but as a consequence of moneys being tight, fewer poets were invited this year and only one from far away. Here is a list of the artists participating in tomorrow’s event, with their respective idioms: Miquel Bezares (Mallorca, Catalan), Teresa Colom (Andorra, Catalan), Pedro Enríquez (Granada, Castellano), Nahid Kabiri (Iran, Farsi), Laia Martínez López (Mallorca, Catalan), Miquel Àngel Llauger (Mallorca, Catalan), Víctor Obiols (Barcelona, Catalan), Joan Perelló (Mallorca, Catalan), Andreu Subirats (Mallorca, Catalan) and Tiago Torres da Silva (Portugal, Portuguese).

The festival is organised by the Consell de Mallorca together with the Universidad de las Illes Balears under the hosting of the festival’s able director, Biel Mesquida, a poet of renown himself.

This year’s Festival de Poesia de la Mediterrània will end on Friday, June 22nd, with a concert given by Anna Roig i l’Ombre de Ton Chien, also at the Teatre Prinipal.

The photo was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of riowang.blogspot.com.es.

Thank you very much, and also for the poem’s translation from the Catalan.

Corpus Christi Concerts in Palma

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Next Sunday, June 10th, the Spring festivity of Corpus Christi will be celebrated in Mallorca. Between now and then, ten concerts will be held in some of the city’s emblematic courtyards, such as in Can Oms, Palau March, Misericòrdia, Can Berga or the Estudi General Lul·lià.

Tonight at 21h00, for instance, a concert will be given by the Cor del Teatre Principal at the Claustre de Sant Francesc. The setting is absolutely stunning and even better, entrance admission is free, tonight as well as for all the remaining concerts. Next Sunday, the last concert of the series will be given by the Orchestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears in the Pati de l’Almudaina, also at 21h00, opposite Palma’s Cathedral.

More information about the remaining concerts on June 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th can be found here.

Tickets for the concerts can be obtained Monday to Friday from 09h30 to 13h30 at PICH, Carrer de l’Almudaina 9A, or one hour before the start of the concert at the venue of the day.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: June 1st, 2012. The time was 18:20:11. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of tourmandu.com.

Thank you very much, and

muchas gracias.

Air Attacks Over Palma in 1937

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75 years ago this week, there were two days of severe air attacks over Palma, coming from the Republican resistance to the military putsch of the Falangist movement. Plenty of damage was caused, including the loss of civilian life, particularly in the boroughs of Santa Catalina and Porta de Sant Antoni, where nowadays Carrer de Sant Miquel and Carrer dels Olms would meet. Palma’s leading newspaper at that time, La Almudaina, reported extensively about the Canallesca hazaña de los aviadores rojos (Despicable deed of the red flying machines), when in reality the attacks were aimed at the commandos of the war planes of Benito Mussolini‘s Aviazione Legionara (Italian Air Brigade, financed by none other than a certain Juan March Ordinas) and the German Legion Condor who had come to the help of the Caudillo‘s (General Franco’s) attempt to overthrow the government of the Second Spanish Republic. The foreign air forces had shortly before attacked Durango and Gernika in the Basque province in Northern Spain. Both, the Italian as well as the German air legions had a major presence here in Mallorca during the duration of the Guerra Civil. The Italian Air Brigade, for instance, bombarded Barcelona with air planes stationed here in Mallorca in March 1938.

Later in 1937, Palma suffered two more bombardments on October 7th, and December 7th, respectively.

Both photos were borrowed from the Internet, the top one courtesy of diariodemallorca.es, and the bottom one, courtesy of nothemingwaysspain.blogspot.com.es. Thank you very much, and

muchas gracias.

The Festa de Firó in Sóller

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For the last few days, the town of Sóller has been celebrating its annual Fires i Festes. Today is the last day of festivities and the most important of all celebrations, the Festa de Firó. The Firó celebration always happens on the Monday after the second weekend in May, i. e. today. The Firó goes back to a date in history, when on May 11th, 1561, some 2,000 Moorish intruders arrived in the Port de Sóller from Algeria, with nothing but unfriendly motives and aggressive plans. Luckily, the then Viceroy in Ibiza had sent a warning to the citizens of Sóller who could prepare themselves for a possible attack and organize their defense. For the last 120 years, the town of Sóller has been celebrating the legendary battle and its favorable outcome with an annual reenactment of the historic skirmish of Moros i Cristians (Moors and Christians).

In 1561, the Sarraïns (Saracen pirates) landed on the Platja d’en Repic , pillaging and looting whatever got in their way. They soon had the upper hand, marauding houses and capturing the parish church. The pirates’ Wazir (leader) did not take long in declaring victory in the Sóller Plaça, triumphing over the local farmers. The Sollerics and their Valentes Dones (brave women), however, regrouped under the helm of Capitán Angelats, counter-attacked and finally managed to overpower the intruders. I expect it will be the same today, and everyone will be happy ever after, until next year.

The photo was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of flickr.com and @potti (José Juan ‘Potti’ Luna).

Moltes gràcies.

Sister Moon

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I apologize for not offering you a better photo of yesterday’s Super Moon but there you go. The intention was there but my equipment does not seem to be good enough for the moon, the sky in general, flowers or other close-up objects or really anything. Luckily I don’t mind; I hope you don’t either.

Yesterday’s Full Moon was the biggest and brightest moon of the year having passed closer to the Earth than usual. I found Sister Moon to be surprisingly beautiful, very feminine, rather warm and glowing. It’s just a shame that the visual effect is different on the human eye than it is through my camera lens. What can one say?

The Super Moon came within about 357,000 km of Earth, which is about 22,000 km closer than average. The moon’s distance from Earth varies because it follows an elliptical orbit rather than a circular one. I hope you had a good night’s sleep.

The photos were taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 6th, 2012. The time was 23:56:46 and 23:18:20, respectively.

Sant Marc and the Fate of Snails

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I have a few admissions to make, this Day of Sant Marc (Mark the Evangelist). For some reason, this is the day when tradition in Mallorca calls for the celebration of Caragoladas, snail eating banquets.

Admission no. one: I have taken lots of photos of snails over the years in all shapes and sizes, alive or boiled, on the plate or in the field, in the nature or in Mallorca’s markets but right now, I can’t find any of my snail photos just as I would need one. I seem to lack in keywording abilities or in more efficient photo archiving. I am sorry but I had to borrow a photo from Wikimedia.

Admission no. two: I am at a total loss as to why Sant Marc is associated with the eating of snails. The snail eating capital of Mallorca seems to be Sineu, but Algaïda and Sant Jordi are big snail eating communities as well. In Sant Jordi, an annual snail race is held, albeit a bit later, in mid-May. Sineu is celebrating its patron’s day today, Sant Marc, with the usual Wednesday market in an extra special, festive edition, whilst banks and offices have a festive day off. I believe that the Palau dels Reis will be open for visits today in Sineu as well. Sineu is also the place where Caragols-Mallorca resides, Mallorca’s largest snail breeders.

I am sorry if I may sound a bit vague today but there you are. I don’t know everything, so there.

The photo (top) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of wikimedia.org. and the photographer, Thomas Schoch. The photo (bottom) was chosen from my archive. It was taken near Petra, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 9th, 2008. The time was 15:33:58.

Thank you very much, and

vielen Dank.

High-Tech in the High Mountains

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My friend and loyal reader David commented on the breadth of the topics this blog covers, and that he never realised that Mallorca was so interesting. These kind words were well received. Mallorca offers so very many different facets indeed and even more than I have covered in the nearly five years of this blog’s existence (six weeks to go for the fifth anniversary) and its 1,789 blog posts. The thing is that most of us are only aware of our immediate surroundings and environment. Let me talk about golfers who know more than I do about what is going on in the golfing circuit, and perhaps much less about falconry. Or the boat people who are fully entrenched in yachts and knots and marinas, and not very much else apart from wining and dining.

Yesterday, for instance, the most amazing Ultratrail Mallorca took place in the Serra de Tramuntana, and not many people gave it much attention apart from close friends and family members. There were perhaps 1,800 participants walking, running, ambling and limping the 105 kilometres between Andratx and Pollença, with the best able ones beating themselves in just over eleven hours, all satellite tracked from high above and chip controlled from down below. I think it is amazing what goes on here on the island and what a shame that most of us are not aware of half the going-ons, most of the time.

Anyway, a big applause to the brave athletes who yesterday not only managed to cross the finishing line after some twelve to twenty hours but who also conquered themselves in the proceedings. What an inimitable feat.

The yellow machine in the photo (above) is a high-tech chip detector on one of the five check-points between start and finish in yesterday’s competition. Each and every participating athlete was equipped with a microchip and his or her whereabouts or passing-through and time was monitored. The red numbers on the runner’s vest in the photo indicate one of the 1,200 participants who started the race in Andratx at 00h00, and the green number tag indicates one of the 600 participants who started the competition in Valldemossa at 08h00. The carriers of red had been on the go for 18 hours by the time this picture was taken, and the carriers of green, ten hours. Utterly amazing.

I reckon there will be much more going on here in Mallorca before my enthusiasm and wonderment are exhausted. Stay tuned.

The photo (top) was taken in Escorca, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: April 21st, 2012. The time was 18:13:29. The image (below) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of Google and siguemeya.com.

Thank you, and

muchas gracias.

Marathons, Triathlons and Ultratrails

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For some reason or other, Mallorca has become a much favoured place to hold athletic races of the mega distance. The island capital organizes an annual International Half Marathon ‘Ciutat de Palma’, currently in its 18th year, which attracted in excess of 1,500 runners about a month ago. The TUI Marathon was launched in 2003 and is now in its 9th year. Last year, 1,404 runners attempted the full length marathon and 3,487 runners started out in the half marathon. This year’s competition will be held in October.

In 2011, the first ever Mallorcan Ironman triathlon competition was held with 1,698 participants who braved a swim course of 1.9 km, a cycling distance of 90.1 km and a running circuit of 21.1 km. This year’s Ironman will be held in May.

Last Sunday, a triathlon was also held in Portocolom, already for the 15th time, covering 1 km of swimming, 10 km of running and 100 km of cycling. The photo (below) is from the 2009 event.

Next Saturday, April 21st, an Ultratrail Serra de Tramuntana will be held for the fourth time, spanning 105 km of Tramuntana mountain terrain from Andratx to Pollença (see photo above). A shorter distance (the Trail Serra de Tramuntana) will be held the same day between Valldemossa and Pollença (62 km). I am not sure if you can imagine the utter exhaustion a run over such a distance of the roughest mountain trails, up from sea level to about 1,300 metres of altitude and down again, will cause the participants. I simply do not know how they do this but I certainly have nothing but respect for the athletes’ endurance and stamina. The winner will need no more than 12 hours, can you imagine? Last year, there was one man (Toni Contestí) who ran the Doble Ultra Trail Serra de Tramuntana from Andratx to Pollença and back again, would you believe it, in an incredible 39 hours and 35 minutes. That’s 219 km of running through the unforgiving mountains. Unbelievable.

All this makes me feel such a wet.

The photo (top) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of facebook.com/TrailsMallorca. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of sergiotriatlo.blogspot.com.es.

Muchas gracias.

The Centenary Railway to Sóller

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April 16th, 1912 was the date of the first ever train journey between Palma and Sóller. Today marks the one hundredth anniversary of that inaugural trip (see photo bottom).

When the railway line was built, the always clever Mallorcans were listo (smart) enough to resort to a trick. The length of the line from Palma to Sóller was only 27.3 kilometers but should have been a minimum of 30 km to qualify for some state subsidies. Hence, the construction of an additional 4.9 kilometer track was begun at the same time, linking Sóller to Port de Sóller.

A trip on the old carriages through beautiful Mallorcan landscape including 13 tunnels is recommended, even if a bit pricey. You could consider a one-way trip to Sóller on the Centenary train and come back on the bus.

A commemorative act will be celebrated tonight at 19h00 in Sóller’s Estació de tren.

The photo (top) was chosen from my archive. It was taken in Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: April 11th, 2008. The time was 16:59:43. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of canprunera.com.

Moltes gràcies.