ISLAND NEWS
09
JULY 2023
SUMMER CELEBRATIONS: LOCAL TRADITIONAL FIESTAS IN JULY THERE IS ALWAYS AN OCCASION TO CELEBRATE IN MENORCA by Vanessa Jeny, Menorca Blue
One of the quintessential aspects of Spanish culture is that every week of the year in various places around the country, different towns are celebrating their local fiestas. There is always a reason to celebrate, and isn’t that what life is all about? Spanish know how to party and they always make it a priority. That is my kinda life philosophy! During the summer months, Menorca continues to unsettle the typical tranquility of the island with its own traditional fiestas, filling up the summer calendar with festive spirit. Even after all these years the fiestas are still one of my most favourite aspects of island life. Menorcans are Masters of Ceremonies and Celebration. Almost all of the fiestas centre around a Patron Saint and seamlessly fuse together a religious ceremony with tradition and street parties to create some of the most memorable events you will ever experience. As a professional special event manager, I’m always fascinated at how these fiestas appear to run on automatic with a life of their own.
Everyone seems to be born knowing what they are doing without an event coordinator or production schedule in sight. It’s a credit to the councils, stakeholders and townspeople for making it happen each year so magically. Traditions are passed down through generations, and months of preparation go into it. There is a time and season for each task leading up to the event. It has been that way for as long as anyone can remember, and everyone plays their part with precision.
MENORCA’S FIESTA TRADITIONS Following the grand opening of the fiesta season with Sant Joan in Ciutadella at the end of June, there are a couple of (much needed) weeks to recover as the preparations are finalised in the other towns around the island. Each town has a different patron saint and their own version of what can be affectionately summarised as ‘Horses & Jaleo’. Celebrations continue through the whole of summer during July, August and September. Some of towns have fixed dates as the fiestas are held on the same day every year regardless of the day of the week. In other towns, the fiestas are on fixed weekends of the month, meaning that the dates shift slightly each year. The theme of each fiesta is the same, true to what has come to be known as the traditional Menorcan Fiestas of this island. The aforementioned Horses and ‘Jaleo’, celebrate the Equestrian tradition on the island. The incredibly beautiful and skilled Menorcan Breed of Horses, honouring the farming families, and the local bands are the protagonists. Each town has their own official protocols and schedule of events, but all include the main traditions, albeit on a smaller scale than Ciutadella.
HERE ARE THE PROTOCOLS THAT ARE CONSISTENT IN ALL THE FIESTAS OF THE ISLAND: ‘Primer toc des Fabiol’: The first tap of the drum and sound of the flute marks the official start of the fiesta. The person who plays the flute and drum throughout the whole fiesta is known as the ‘Fabioler’, usually someone with experience in the job, a healthy set of lungs, rhythm and ROQ U E TA M AGA ZI N E . N E T
