ISLAND NEWS
04
JULY 2023
ISLAND NEWS
By Christine Brooker
SANT JOAN CIUTADELLA Hello again Roqueta readers! The fiestas of Sant Joan will be finished when you read this, but here are a few points. The strict protocols in Ciutadella still do not allow women to ride in the ceremonies and there have been protests about this for years. There was yet another meeting between the two factions about possible solutions to the “discriminatory” rules. The “initiatives” continue to be studied. The bell tower on the Sant Joan de Missa hermitage where all the riders go on horseback to meet for mass before the fiestas start was badly damaged when it was struck by lightning on 28th November last year. Fortunately, this happened on a Monday, and no one was hurt. The bell tower and part of the church were restored in time for the fiestas. Not so fortunate was the ancestral home of the “Caixer Señor”, the chief rider in the fiestas who always comes from one of the aristocratic families in the town. After first being given the all clear by the ayuntamiento, a second architectural survey found it unsafe and the festivities had to take place in the grand house known as Vivó Truyols. The latter dates from the early XX century and is situated in the Alfonso III square more commonly known as the Plaza de Las Palmeras.
THE ISLAND NEEDS CARPENTERS The association of carpenters/joiners/cabinet makers, or the equivalent is one of the oldest members of PIME (the small businesses association). The president Lluis Hidalgo is concerned as the younger generation is not taking over in the sector. There is a lack of qualified artisans and he says although many things are prefabricated nowadays, the type of client that has recently been buying property in Menorca has money and wants bespoke carpentry. Hidalgo says that it is a national problem as alternative university careers have been pushed (have we heard this before, in the U. K. Possibly?!). Hidalgo says that in 1985 he studied in a professional school in Barcelona when he was 14. Things soon changed and the school closed its carpentry section for lack of pupils. He believes that the local schools should see the potential as many going to university graduate and cannot find jobs, whereas in carpentry they are guaranteed work as soon as they finish. In Germany they have a successful scheme, but here he says companies are not interested in helping and there is a general lack of interest amongst the students.
PROCESSIONARY CATERPILLARS A new campaign has been started against moths when they are at the processionary caterpillar stage. Many readers will be familiar with the traps with pheromones that are sometimes installed in the pine trees - and some have seen the local police shooting the cobweb structures full of caterpillars out of the trees. Now “rings” have been installed on some pine trees in Mahón that will prevent the caterpillars crawling down in the familiar line, as they can cause severe allergies in humans and animals. D O N ’ T M I S S A N E D I T I O N , S U B S C R I B E T O D AY ! V I S I T: R O Q U E TA M A G A Z I N E . N E T
