Event Previews & Reviews from Mallorca

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.

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.

Spring officially takes hold. With support from the city of Palma de Mallorca and the collective Balearic Islands Government, the international festival of contemporary dance, 'Palma amb la dansa' as it's called in Catalan...or Palma loves dance in English, has arrived to Mallorca for the eighth year in a row.

Every year, during the second weekend of May, the inhabitants of Soller prepare their muskets, bring out the black shoe polish, and engage in fearsome battles to commemorate one of the town’s greatest historical triumphs.  In 1561, the town was invaded by pillaging pirates from North Africa who were set on stealing riches and selling the folk of Soller into slavery.  This event is celebrated these days during the annual Soller ‘Fira & Firo’ which honours the victory of the town’s people, (the Christian Sollerics) over the invading Algerian Moors (the Saracens).  

With strings of glistening lights adorning every town and village, Christmas has definitely arrived in Mallorca. And what better way to get a festive fix than a trip to a Christmas market?

The people of Pollenca have been given a reprieve this week as the Miquel Salom photography exhibition that was supposed to run until the 25th of May has been extended until the 7th of June.

Casa Font i Roig is one of the many historical dwellings that have been converted into small boutique establishments in Mallorca. Many of these places have top-notch restaurants and, in the summer months, they often offer themed evenings like BBQ or Tapas Nights. So, on a warm summers evening, we went along to try Casa Font i Roig’s Friday night BBQ bonanza.

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.

This week Rialto Living kicked off its first art exhibition of 2017 with a showing of Adrian Elgie’s ‘Mis Nuevas Vistas - A Bright New Vista’ and I was kindly invited to visit the opening night. Adrian is an English contemporary landscape artist and, having seen some examples of his paintings and read his background of moving to Mallorca from Cambridgeshire (my home county) to rekindle a romance with his former art college sweetheart on the island, I was keen to find out more.

The sun is shining and Soller is getting ready for a major fiesta - the Firo that celebrates the battle between the Moors and the Christians that happened on our beach and in our town. The 450th anniversary of the event is taking place from 5th to 9th May 2011. Flags are already festooning houses and shops all over the valley and the nature of the people means that they usually have both flags dangling from their balconies - as if they can't quite decide who to support. The Balearic flag is often alongside so all aspects of life and country are represented.

If you are in Mallorca this weekend, you might notice how the island is gearing up for one of its biggest fiestas of the year. Each June, the locals get together to celebrate in honour of Sant Joan (John the Baptist).

Out of all the many food festivals that are held on Mallorca throughout the year, The Frenchman and I were most eagerly awaiting the Tapalma tapas festival (7-11th October 2010). I mean, seriously, who wouldn’t want to crawl round dozens of Palma’s bars and restaurants, eat their best tapas at bargain prices, and wash it all down with lashings of discounted beer and wine? It sounded like the grown-up version of a student pub crawl.

Happy New Year, the Three Kings have made their journey to all Majorcan homes. They started with their arrival by boat in the Port of Soller where they were met by hundreds of local children waiting for the sweets and smiles from the Kings and their pages. They knew that this was just the start and that overnight the presents would arrive, delivered by the Kings on camels or donkeys.

As most countries in the world begin to wrap up their Christmas festivities, in Spain the Christmas holidays are still in full swing. 

Santa Ponça is getting reading to commemorate the successful landing and conquering of the Moors by King Jaume I in 1229 with eleven days of festivities.

There was a great sense of anticipation at Palma Auditorium on Friday, as people arrived for the one night only show celebrating Glenn Miller and the golden era of swing and big band music.