Read reviews of the best Mallorca events
The Diamond Jubilee celebrations may be over in the UK, but here on Mallorca, we enjoyed a quintessential English garden party at La Residencia Hotel in Deia to mark the British monarch’s 60th year on the throne.
A trip to Deià on the north coast of Majorca is a must for anyone wishing to experience the diversity that this beautiful island has to offer.
Do you suffer from the post Christmas blues? If you are visiting Mallorca in January, you will have to turn that frown upside down, as some of the island's biggest fiestas take place this month and are sure to make January the season to be jolly.
It wouldn’t be the same in Mallorca if there wasn’t traditional food to eat at Easter time. During the Easter weekend the women of the family sit down to make a collection of savoury panades and sweet robiols, both of which are pastries only seen during Easter. There is certainly an art to making these pies and this year was my first year helping shape the panades in the small town of Selva.
Spain, being predominantly Catholic, worships its saints devoutly. Every day of the year has a saints name associated with it and some are honoured with celebrations. January is a busy month, with Saint Anthony's day on 17th of January and Saint Sebastian following shortly after, on 20th January.
The children of Mallorca have twelve weeks holiday in the summer. Summer schools are therefore essential to allow parents to work in the tourist industry and to stop the little ones getting bored of holiday life. The families of the hidden valley have choices - groups based in school buildings throughout Soller, the community centre Ca’n Dulce, or the favoured one of my family – the Tennis & Swimming Summer School.
Before you reach for your top hat or fascinator, this is not Ascot, nor is it actually horse racing as you know it. For in Mallorca, it is trotting races that is the king of sports. The specially bred horses (with a height of 1.5 - 1.7 metres) pull a small and lightweight cart which carries a ‘jockey' around a race track going at speeds you would not think possible. This sport has been popular in Majorca for 200 years and tracks in Palma and Manacor host races once a week.
This years Sant Sebastia festivities in Palma last Saturday night were much quieter than in previous years as wind and rain put many Mallorquians off coming out to celebrate. However, the rain didn’t last long enough to put out the barbecues on the streets and still crowds were there cooking sausages, toasting bread, and warming up by the foguerons (bonfires).
Palma celebrated its 13th marathon this weekend on what turned out to be a gloriously sunny Sunday. 10,000 runners from 48 different countries competed in the full marathon, half marathon and 10km races. The scenic route along the seaside promenade and through the old town, combined with the great weather and fantastic atmosphere made it a real success.
Nit de Foc, or the direct English translation ‘Night of Fire’, is one of Mallorca’s biggest fiestas. A raucous evening of bonfires, beach parties, midnight swims, music and dancing until dawn. What more could you possibly want from a Friday evening in Mallorca? I was extremely excited to get involved this year, as there had been a lot of hype in the lead up to the evening with locals, expats and tourists all getting involved.
There is an abundance of traditional fiestas and fairs in Mallorca. Whatever the time of year you find yourself on this island, there is always something going on. From religious celebrations dating back to ancient times to traditional Mallorcan fairs, each month there is something to look forward to.
The month of June gets the summer beach parties in Mallorca off to a fine start. The weather is glorious and we all look for excuses to get down on the sand and remember why we moved here. The beach and perfect horse shoe bay of Port de Soller never fail to delight and the children start to look forward to their holidays and swapping school shoes for no shoes. The diving platform is installed in the water this week and then the locals know that summer has officially started.
The 4th edition of the Mallorca Open sent tennis fanatics into a frenzy on the island. Between June 17th and 23rd 2019, under the leadership of Toni Nadal, this WTA international tennis tournament hosted some of the world’s best female tennis stars competing for the $250,000 prize money up for grabs.
This weekend saw the BVAW beach volleyball tournament in Alcudia. From the 22nd to the 24th of May the beach filled up with couples in volley vests, short shorts and tiny bikinis leaping, diving and spiking in an attempt to be crowned winners of the Beach Volleyball Around the World’s 2015 tournament.
Easter week or 'Semana Santa' as it is known is a very important time in Soller. The town divides up into fraternities – groups of people attached to a local church who have an affinity to a particular group of penitents. The penitents dress in the robes of their particular fraternity and this includes wearing pointed hats, reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan, with eye holes cut out and the rest of the face covered.
Nikki Beach’s White Party has become a world famous social affair and is, without a doubt, one of the biggest events of the year in Mallorca. Anybody who’s anybody wants to be seen at this particular party. This year, I went along to see what all the fuss was about.
The square fell silent at 5am on the 2nd August to listen to the Pollenca band play the Patrona anthem, ‘L’Alborada’, as they marched through the main square and crowded streets to start the Patrona celebrations. La Patrona is celebrated with a mock battle fought between the Moorish Pirates and the Pollencin Christians and is a Mallorcan tradition carried on from many years ago.
There is a definite buzz around Puerto Pollensa at the moment as once again the locals and visitors to this town in the north of Majorca celebrate the Patron Verge del Carme (the Virgin Carmen- Patron Saint of sailors). This is the second of two main festivals held in Puerto Pollensa, the first being Sant Pere (St. Peter) that was held between the 28th June to 1st July.