It’s this time of the year again. Belén time, Betlem time, time of Nativity scenes. I have a number of personal favourites, as every year. In Palma, I would suggest you go to the Centre Cultural la Misericòrdia where you can see the Betlem Mallorquí in all its fascinating detail (open daily now until January 6th). Even better but not arranged as a nativity scene, is the Belén Napolitano at the Fundacion Bartolomé March with 2,000 masterly crafted pieces from the 18th century.

In the Mallorcan hinterland, you’ll find the most elaborate Belén installations inside some of the parish churches. If you live nearby any of those, you might want to go one of the following:

Església de Banyalbufar (December 24th to January 20th), open Saturdays (17h00 to 18h00) and Sundays (10h00 to 13h00).
Església Nostra Senyora de Visitació, Consell (December 8th to January 6th), open Tuesdays and Thursday (19h00), Saturdays (12h00 and 20h00) and Sundays (12h00 to 20h00).
Església de Deià (December 24th to January 2nd), open weekdays (11h00 to 17h30) and Sundays (11h00 to 19h30).
Església de Maria de la Salut (December 24th to January 2nd), open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (18h30 to 19h30).

A very special Nativity scene can be found at the Església Nova in Son Servera (see photo above). The Església Nova is not a church. It would have been one but, construction was never finished and there is no roof on the early 20th century structure. There is a small chapel complete with a roof, though, which was added in 1990 or thereabouts, and that is the location for one of the largest Beléns on the island. The buildings were sculpted by artist, Antoni Fons. The installation was lovingly arranged by Mari Ferragut. That Belén can be visited from December 12th to January 6th, Mondays to Thursdays (18h30 to 20h30), Fridays (09h00 to 13h00), Saturdays and Sundays (10h00 to 12h00 amd 18h30 to 20h30). You won’t be disappointed.

The photo was taken in Son Servera, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: December 16th, 2011. The time was 13:08:41.