Any moment now, Mallorca will be preparing for a string of Easter celebrations. Last Sunday already marked the halfway term of this year’s Corema (Lent), the 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Good Friday observed by Christians as a season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter. Today, there are a mere 16 days left of this year’s Lent. In Felanitx, a pregó (solemn speech) is usually given as the kick-off and start of the Easter celebrations. Such a pregó will be given tomorrow night at the Convent de Sant Agustí, to be followed by a performance of the Coral de Felanitx.

Setmana Santa (Holy Week) will start this year on Diumenge del Ram (Palm Sunday), on April 18th, with Divendres Sant (Good Friday) falling on April 22nd and Diumenge de Pscua (Easter Sunday), on April 24th. Palm Sunday is usually the first day of the dramatic and rather compelling Easter processions. The biggest one will be held that day in Palma when all of Palma’s Cofrarías (Fraternities) will join one large procession marking the Entry of Jesus in Jerusalem which will take hours on end from start to finish. I shall tell you more details as soon as they become available.

Apart from pregóns, procession and fraternities, you might want to look out for the local version of the Devallament (Passion Play), which is a much celebrated pageant in Felanitx, Sant Joan and Pollença, or the popular processions of the Vía Dolorosa or Via Crucis (the Stations of the Cross), which are most spectacularly held in Pollença, Sineu, Deia and Felanitx, to name but a few.

My photo shows one of the 14 Stations of the Cross outside of Felanitx, on the way up to the Santueri de Sant Salvador.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: October 23rd, 2010. The time was 15:16:07.