Traditionally, December 13th is considered as being the shortest day with the longest night of the year in Sweden. Why that is I cannot tell you. I suppose it has to do with the fact that in Sweden, the sun is not up very long during Winter. In some places it doesn’t seem to come up at all, or so I am told.

For some reason, Mallorca has a surprisingly large Scandinavian population, many of which hailing from Sweden. Perhaps the sun is up for so long during the Mediterranean Winters, seen from a Scandinavian perspective. What do you think? Be that as it may, tradition has it in Mallorca that on December 13th, the Swedish fête of Santa Lucia and her Christmas candles is being celebrated here. Santa Lucia will be marked again tonight at 20h00 in Plaça Cort. Fourteen year old Swedish girl Saga Landström will represent the candle-bearing saint this year, accompanied by her Swedish friends from school.

The photo was chosen from my archive. It was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: December 13th, 2008. The time was 20:22:50.