Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is now concluded for this year. Tomorrow, the Christian Noche Buena is upon us and the day after, Nadal (Navidad, Christmas). You might want to light a candle, whatever your religious persuasion.

It is a Mallorcan tradition to light a candle in a church at any time of the year, but at this time, around Christmas, more candles are being lit than usual. The Esglèsia de Sant Crist de la Sang where this photo was taken is a particularly popular place to pray, to offer one’s devotion or to beseech the Crist de la Sang’s forgiveness. A candle offering may just do the trick when accompanying such a solemn request.

Candles fabricated out of paraffin wax and made by hand can be bought in a large variety of sizes and shapes in a number of cererías (candle stores) in Palma de Mallorca. There is also a candle-making workshop in the Secar la Real district on the outskirts of Palma, and there is the famous Picornell Cerería in Carrer Call, near Plaça de Santa Eulàlia, where orders for hand-made candles of any size and shape have been placed since 1785, whatever the occasion.

The photo was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: December 15th, 2009. The time was 16:53:19.