Mallorca
Here in Mallorca, the Testigos de Jehová (Jehovah’s Witnesses) are a busy lot. Years ago, when we still lived in the countryside, we had a spell of regular visits to […]
Architecture
Finding your way around Palma de Mallorca, you will probably have come across a number of vast walled-in areas which look perhaps a bit ominous. These are possibly some of […]
Architecture
The courtyard of Ca n’Oleza, dating from the end of the 17th century, is one of the best preserved patios (courtyards) in Palma and one of its best known. The […]
Customs & Traditions
Up to perhaps 50 or 60 years ago, these street lights in Palma were run on gas. I am not a technical expert but, I was told that gas pobre […]
Daily Life
If you want to get about in Palma and the bicycle is not your choice of transport, you may well be directed to the services of the Empresa Municipal de […]
Architecture
Last Saturday, Mateo Isern, Palma’s new Conservative batle (mayor) was handed over the reigns to Palma’s Ajuntament (city council) by outgoing Aina Calvo. The first calamity the new alcalde will […]
Books & Authors
Last Wednesday night was the Nit de la Poesia and the culmination of the Festival de Poesia de la Mediterrània. The annual multi-lingual, inspiring event, now in its 13th year, […]
History
It must be one of life’s ironies that Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 should be played tonight at Palma’s Auditorium, in the very week when the Conservatives won the popular […]
Automobiles
During the early 20th century, automobiles were built in Spain only in Madrid, Barcelona and, believe it or not, Palma de Mallorca. In 1920, Señores Rafael de Lacy y Gual, […]
Mallorca
Palma’s Plaza de España has been renamed as Plaza de Islandia by the protesters known as the Movimiento 15-M(ayo). Fittingly, the statue of Jaime I the Conqueror, carries a flag […]
Daily Life
Spain is a very particular country. Having lived here, in Mallorca, for close to 24 years I cannot but notice that everything and everyone everywhere is different from anywhere else […]
Ecology
Yesterday, the International Museum Day was celebrated worldwide with some 30,000 museums participating. In Mallorca, there are perhaps seventy museums, half of which joined this initiative organized by ICOM, the […]
Architecture
Unfortunately, not many buildings remain of the Moorish period, here on the island of Mallorca, and only scarce remnants can be seen of the former Islamic religious architecture. Apart from the […]
History
In Spain, during the 15th to 19th centuries, members of the Jewish religion, as well as other transgressors such as Protestants, blasphemers, sodomites, bigamists and crypto-Jews, suffered severe persecution, expulsion […]
Fiestas & Festivals
If you should happen to like music, and if music is your passion, you could do much worse than live in Mallorca. Music has traditionally played a large part in […]
Events
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 […]