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Month: April 2011

Jurassic Park

The island of Mallorca, and the Balearic Islands in general, were probably formed some 400 to 300 million years ago. Allow me to quote from the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 edition […]

On Cyclophobia

It shames me considerably to have to admit that I am somewhat cyclophobic. I do agree that Mallorca offers an ideal location for cycling excursions. Its varied landscape from the […]

The World Folk Dance Festival

The Festival Mundial de Danses Folklòriques (World Folk Dance Festival) is being staged these days in Palma, until Saturday, April 30th. The first World Folk Dance Festival was held in […]

Rapeseed (Brassica napus)

The farming of Rapeseed (Brassica napus) does not enjoy a great tradition in Mallorca, as far as I know. With the prolificacy of olive trees for abundant olive oil production, […]

The Resurrection

Without much doubt, Easter is probably the most important religious festivity in the Mallorcan calendar, and the most family oriented celebration as well. For a start, the 40 days of […]

The Pietà

Good Friday celebrations centre around the Davallament, here in Felanitx, a performance of the Passion Play which has been staged, here, ever since 1975. The Davallament is the story of […]

Gaudí’s Amazing Sounding Board

In about 1903-04, or thereabouts, Antoni Gaudí designed an amazing contraption for the main pulpit of Palma’s Cathedral. At the time, microphones, loudspeakers or electric amplifiers were not invented, yet, […]

Bearing His Own Cross

Dijous Sant (Maundy Thursday, Castellano: Jueves Santo) marks the last day of this year’s Quaresma (Lent). Yesterday evening, hundreds of hooded penitents participated in the annual Processó de la Sang, […]

The Solemn Sound Of Silence

Last night, the first of this year’s Easter processions was held in Felanitx, the Processó del Silenci (Procesión del Silencio, Silent Procession). The procession started with a congregation at the parish […]

The 39 Steps

The 39 steps of Artà are in fact 180 steps, leading up to the Santuari de Sant Salvador. Whilst not quite as magnificent as the 364 steps leading up to […]

The Killing Fields

A commemorative act was celebrated last Saturday in Porreres in honour of victims of the Spanish Civil War. The scene of the homage was the so-called Racó de la Memòria, […]

The Benefits of Sea Salt

A Semana de la Sal is going on this week in Ses Salines and in Colònia de Sant Jordi, near Mallorca’s principal salt marshes in the Es Trenc-Salobrar de Campos […]

All My Children

The first time I saw a bunch of nursery children all attached to a rope here in Spain must have been forty years ago. It was, and still is, a […]

The Spanish Second Republic

Eighty years ago this week, in April 1931, the Spanish Segunda República (Second Republic) was proclaimed. Earlier that year, King Alfonso XIII had abdicated as a consequence of massive civil […]