The Fiesta de San Antonio goes back a very long time indeed, here on the island of Mallorca. In Pollença, for instance, documents show that the Festa de Sant Antoni was already alive and kicking as early as 1384, if the book La festa a l’època medieval (1350-1450) by Antoni Mayol i Llompart can be trusted. But Pollença is not alone nor is it at the forefront of the San Antonio Abad festivities. There are lively celebrations now, leading up to January 17th, the saint’s day, just about everywhere in Mallorca. Manacor, Artà and Son Servera are rather big with the saint and, particularly so, is Sa Pobla. There will be Sant Antoni celebrations wherever you live, here on the island, just check locally for details.

The festa celebrates the clash between the saint and the devil. San Antonio suffers plenty of tribulations at the demonio‘s hands. The saint survives the barrage of evil blows, tricks and temptations and, thus, at night the devil gets burned at the stakes. Large bonfires will be lit everywhere next Monday, to be followed by torradas (barbeques), some vino tinto and plenty of ximbomba music, dancing and merriment.

The photo (top) was taken in Sa Pobla, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: January 15th, 2010. The time was 15:29:51. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of mca-hotels.com.

Thank you very much.