Nit del Foc Cala Major 2017 Review

Big summer solstice celebration on the beach

Imprint: By Jose Rains, Updated 29 June 2017

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.

Each year, this fiesta takes place on the eve of mid-summer to celebrate the eve of Sant Joan fiesta, a bank holiday in Mallorca. Palma is, of course, the epicentre of the celebrations and Parc de la Mar in front of the Cathedral is where you’ll find people dressed up as devils and demons and fire-running, a tradition you might hear the Spanish call ‘correfoc’. The rest of the island also get involved in the celebrations from beach parties, street parties, devils, bonfires, firecrackers, fireworks and so much more! The hardest decision for me was to work out where to spend the celebrations.

Opting for the laid-back beach celebrations, we (my friends and I) had decided to spend the evening in Cala Major. We had been warned to bag our early spot, as the beaches are known to be overflowing with people by the time the sun goes down. Being truly British we wanted to beat the crowds, so made our way down to the beach on the outskirts of Palma at 19:00.

Approaching the town around Cala Major on this warm summers evening, the streets were packed full of people getting ready for an evening of celebrations. There was a friendlier atmosphere than normal with groups smiling, laughing and joking as they made their way to their various parties with large bags of supplies. We headed down the steps to the beach near Hotel Nixe Palace and travelled to the far east of the sand under the majestic balconies of the hotel. Whilst there were only a few groups already here, the beach hut style bars created an atmosphere with groups of patrons sipping on cocktails, beers and more.

We quickly found a large enough area to create a nest for our evening and marked out our territory with tea lights like many other groups of people had done. Blankets and towels were thrown down to create a comfortable lounge area ready for the evening antics. Others had got their bonfires going already, we chose to wait until sunset to light the fire as the heat of the evening sun was still beaming on our shoulders.

Our supplies included blankets, towels, firewood, plastic cups, a cool bag and enough wine to keep us hydrated on this long summers evening. On the way down we had also picked up some takeaway pizzas, so we didn’t need to worry about cooking on the bonfires! BBQs certainly seemed to be a popular choice, as we saw plenty of people turning up with disposable BBQs (found in most supermarkets here) and the smell of charcoaled meat wafted through the air until late into the evening.

By around 21:00 we got dug a hole, laid our firewood and started our own little bonfire with ease thanks to the help of some fire lighters! At this point, the beach was packed with people. Age was just a number as people of all ages gathered with their families or groups of friends. Having a stroll around the beach, there were so many different things going on as each group enjoyed their own little party. As the night progressed different groups began to mingle, there was various music playing around the beach with people having brought their own speakers. A highlight for me was traditional Flamenco music with children and their parents dancing Latino style, but there was also commercial pop music going on amongst the younger groups. Some were dancing, others were sat chatting, games were being played and of course being a Spanish event an enormous amount of food and drinks were being consumed.

It’s customary for the whole beach to go for a midnight swim, So, at 23:45, we started to get ready and paddled at the water’s edge before the more daring of us ventured further into the sea. It always surprises me how warm the sea feels at night compared to a daytime swim. After swimming, the air felt a little chillier than before but most people curled up together around the bonfires and continued the evening until the early hours of the morning.

An unforgettable evening, I can see why this tradition is one of the most popular across the year! Next year I look forward to sampling some of the other celebrations going on around the island.