Kindling the Chanukah lights
The relatively small Jewish community in Mallorca will tonight light a candle on the right side of the Menorah (candelabrum), on the first night of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, […]
Eid al-Kibir, The Festival of Sacrifice
You might think that the new mosque-to-be in Felanitx is a lavish new building, but far from it. It is merely the conversion of a nondescript old townhouse with a […]
A Tibetan Sand Mandala in The Making
An exhibition of Tibetan art from a Belgian collection, including some beautiful Thangka paintings, can be seen in Palma de Mallorca (Fundació Caixa), from now until February 8th, 2009. But […]
Votive Offerings
Sometimes you can stumble across a corner in a Mallorcan church or monastery, where photos are displayed, often together with the strangest objects, such as a crutch, a letter, a […]
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year
Happy New Year 5769 to my Jewish visitors (hi, Mike). The Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah – the name means “Head of the Year” – is observed for two days beginning […]
Madre Alberta Giménez
Doña Gaietana Alberta Giménez Adrover was a teacher, who was appointed in 1870 as director of the Colegio de la Pureza de María in Palma de Mallorca, a school founded in […]
European Day of Jewish Culture
Many Spanish towns and cities were vibrant hubs of Jewish life, a long time ago, such as Toledo, Girona, Barcelona, Cáceres, Segovia, Córdoba, Jaén, León, Ávila, Elche, Palma de Mallorca […]
Breaking the Fast During Ramadan
This year, Ramadan (or Ramadhan) starts today, September 1st, and will continue for 30 days until September 30th. In Spain that is. It is more complicated than it appears. Since the moon […]
The Diocesan Museum in Palma
The Palau Episcopal, the residence of the Bishop of Mallorca, has undergone an extensive renovation, recently. Nine months ago, the Museu Diocesà re-opened in the new setting, and a visit is highly […]
Fiestas de la Mare de Déu del Carme
Every year on July 16th, Mallorca’s coastal towns and pueblos celebrate the fiestas of the Mare de Déu del Carme. The Virgen del Carmen is the patron saint of all seafaring folks. […]
Ermita de Betlém
Outside of Palma de Mallorca, only a handfull of monasteries or ermitas are still inhabited by monks. The Ermita de Betlém (Bethlehem), not far from Artà, is one of the […]
Burned at the Stake
Spain went through the dark ages half a millenium ago. Intolerance reigned under the name of the Inquisición from 1482. It took 25 years for the abysmal witch hunting to reach the […]
A World Apart
There are plenty of monasteries and convents all over Mallorca, perhaps 60 or so, with a good number of them in the island capital, Palma de Mallorca. Spain was an […]
Russian Orthodox Easter in Mallorca
Easter in Russia is the major religious celebration of the year. There, Easter is even more important than Christmas. Faithful and atheists, kids and adults, city people and country folk […]
Portrait of a Virgin
The virgin in question here is Sainte Bernadette, born Maria Bernada Sobirós, from Lourdes, in the Occitanian part of the French Pyrenees, barely 50 km from the Spanish borders. The young Demoiselle is said […]
Sant Jordi, Dragon Slayer
Everybody knows the legend of Sant Jordi (St. George) slaying the dragon to rescue the princess. In Spain, April 23rd (today, the day of patron saint, Sant Jordi) is celebrated […]
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