The Sardine was buried in Felanitx last night, the night before Ash Wednesday (today). The mock funeral sermon was thoroughly enjoyable for its wit, burlesque mockery and joyous satire. I wish you could have witnessed it.

From today onwards, Mallorca will submit to the rigours of Quaresma (Lent) for 45 days until Divendres Sant (Good Friday), or so it would have been in the olden days. In this day and age, when materialistic gratification is far more desirable than any spiritual quest, my guess is that less than one in five residents will want to know of the tradition of fasting and repentance, and even less than that of fasting on a full-scale of zealous devotion in the ways of the Catholic Church. I must say that the fervency of our Muslim neighbours at times of Ramadan is probably like the Catholic commitment might have been here some 50 years ago, in my estimation. I may be wrong though.

The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Spain. The date: February 21st, 2012. The time was 21:36:51.