Fiestas, festivals and bank holidays in Mallorca

Mallorquins love festivals and there are many throughout the year. They are celebrated and enjoyed with a passion that is one of the great character-giving traits of the island.

Fiestas in Mallorca fall generally into three categories. There are those that are national Spanish holidays, those that are celebrated across Mallorca and the Balearics, and there are also localised fiestas specific to particular towns or regions.

The root of the fiestas lie both in religion and in old pagan traditions. Our recommendation is that you go to every local festival you get a chance to go to. They are entertaining at the very least, and some are quite spectacular and dramatic events.

They generally involve, food, often accompanied by drinking and dancing, and often fireworks too. It is worth noting to that whilst some fiestas have become tourist attractions, none of them is really staged for the benefit of holiday makers. They are very much part of the real Mallorcan culture and lifestyle.

The main fiestas and holidays in Mallorca

Here is a list and dates of the national holidays in Mallorca plus the dates of the main festivals throughout the year. The dates and exact details of the events do vary so we recommend looking through the "What's On" section of the Mallorca Daily Bulletin regularly as this is a good guide and usually has up-to-the-minute details.

National holidays

• New Year: 1st January
• Feast of Epiphany: 6th January
• Maundy Thursday: 1st of April
• Good Friday: 2nd of April
• May Day: 1st of May
• Festival of San Jaime: 25th of July
• Ascension Day : 15th of August
• Spanish national holiday: 12th of October
• Constitution Day: 6th of December
• Inmaculada: 8th of December
• Christmas Day: 25th of December
• Boxing Day: 26th of December

January

• 1st January: Sant Joan, Feast of the Circumcision. A mass is held during which people who have lost a relative bring a picture of their loved one and the Saint after whom they were named and prayers are said for them.
• 5th January: The Three Kings (Reyes Magos) celebrations begin. In all of Spain this is the time when the main Christmas gifts are exchanged. The arrival of the Three Kings (January 5th) is celebrated with elaborate parades throughout the island, sweets and presents are thrown to the children in the crowds.
• 6th January: Traditional Three Kings celebrations. This is a family day with mass, family lunches and further celebrations.
• 16th January: The fiestas of 'San Antonio Abad'. This is the start of several days of marvellous festivals across the Island and focussed on the old towns and "locals" towns such as Pollensa, Arta and Sa Pobla. The event is slightly different in each. In Pollensa for example the festivities start on the evening of the 16th with bonfires and BBQs around the town, fireworks and the traditional dance of the devils which is well worth seeing.
• 17th January: Sant Antoni. Involves the blessing of the animals in the morning, where the local town pets and some of the livestock are taken to church to be blessed. Various other events accompany Sant Antoni and the timing varies each year so check out the Mallorca Daily Bulletin around that time to be sure not to miss anything.
• 20th January: Sant Sebastia. San Sebastian is the Patron Sant of Palma. He is celebrated every year in January, the most spectacular being Aquafoc and Correfoc! Correfoc comes first and involves devils and dragons dancing through the street of Palma and Palma Old Town carrying fireworks and firestaffs. Aquafoc is a spectacular fireworks display in front of Palma Cathedral. ≈ Photo blog, Sant Sebastia 2010
• 21st January: Santa Agnes. Local fiestas celebrated throughout Mallorca.

February

• 3rd February: Sant Blai, Sant Joan. Celebration in Sant Joan village. The locals are anointed with the holy oil of Sant Blai in order to ward off sore throats. As with many such festivals, the theme might sound rather obtuse but they are invariably accompanied by dancing, drinking, local foods of one sort or another and generally good times.
• 12th February: Santa Eulalia. Local fiestas celebrated throughout Mallorca.
• Shrove Tuesday. ("Pancake Day" in the UK). Shrove Tuesday falls on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent in the Christian faith. Dates vary from year to year, but it usually falls in February, sometimes early March. In Mallorca there is a ceremony, the burial of the sardine, accompanied by a mock funeral culminating in the sardine being thrown onto a large funeral pyre. This slightly odd ceremony is the centre point of a night of celebrating including BBQ'd sardines along with drinking and dancing.
• Final weekend before Lent: Sa Rua. This is primarily a Palma Carnival marked by bonfires, fancy dress and processions. Many fancy dress balls marks the end of the Carnival before Lent. Palma hosts the most spectacular fiesta, known as the Cavalcade Sa Rua.
• There are many other local carnivals, fietas and fairs in Mallorca during February - see the Mallorca Daily Bulletin for details.

March

• Easter Week : "Saints Week" in Mallorca or "Semana Santa". Easter is observed by the churches of the West on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox (March 21). Easter is a "movable" feast which can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.
  
  Easter in Mallorca involves fiestas throughout the island. Processions and celebrations have different names such as Davallament in Pollensa, and Pancaritat and Fiesta of the Angel in Palma. Celebrations and parades in Palma occur throughout the Easter week.
  
  The events are sometimes in April according to when Easter falls. See the Mallorca Daily Bulletin for details as to what is on, where and when.

April

• 2nd April: Sant Francesc fiestas. Local fiestas celebrated throughout Mallorca.
• 5th April: Sant Vicenc de sa Cala fiestas. Local fiestas celebrated throughout Mallorca.
• 23rd April: Sant Jordi fiestas. Local fiestas celebrated throughout Mallorca.

May

• 2nd Sunday of the month: The Festival of the Moors and Christians. Re-enactments of the battle between the Christians and the Turks.

June

• 13th June: Corpus Christi, Ball de les Aguiles, Pollensa. This popular festival includes the 'Dance of the Eagles' and is performed in the main town square of Pollensa.
• 13th June: Sant Antoni de Juny, Arta. Celebration in Arta includes parades of locals dressed up as horses.
• 24th June: fiesta of Sant Joan, Muro. Local festival in Muro.
• 24th June: Festa del Sol que Bailla, Sant Joan. Local festival in Sant Joan.
• 29th June: festival of Sant Pere, Palma and Puerto Alcudia. Local celebrations and festivals held in Palma and Puerto Alcudia.
• 30th June: Romeria de Sant Marcal, Marratxi. Market and exhibition of traditional ornaments and "siurell" (traditional clay figures).

July

• 2nd July: Romeria a la Virgen de la Victoria, Alcudia. Celebration in Alcudia.
• 15th and 16th July: Verge del Carme. The men of the sea celebrate their patron saint's festivity, the Verge del Carme (Our Lady of Mount Carmel), and organise maritime processions and other festive and religious ceremonies in the main ports of the Island. A very colourful and enjoyable occasion.
• 25th July: Sant Jaume. Local fiestas celebrated throughout Mallorca.
• 28th July: Santa Catalina Thomas fiestas, Valldemossa. Local celebration in Valldemossa
• Last Sunday of the month: Fornells. Local fiestas celebrated throughout Mallorca.

August

• 2nd August: Patrona de Pollensa. Re-enactment of the battle of the Moors and the Christians. This goes on for days (weeks in fact if you include the choosing of sides and various other preparations). This is one of the most hard core fiestas in Mallorcan calendar, with many a grudge taken out during the mock battles. A fantastic event, great for foreigners as by-standers. Be advised though it is really only for locals to participate! ≈ Photo blog, Patrona de Pollensa, 2009
• 10th August: Sant Llorenc, Selva. Local festival in Selva.
• 23rd and 24th August: The festival of 'Sant Bartomeu'. Celebration of Saint Bartomeu held throughout Mallorca and celebrated most actively in the old towns such as Soller, Pollensa and Santanyi.
• 28th August: Sant Agusti, Felanitx. Local festival in Felanitx.
• 29th August: Sant Joan. Local fiestas celebrated throughout Mallorca.

September

• 3rd September: The fiesta of 'Procession of the Beata', Santa Margalida. Celebration in Santa Margalida to celebrate the day that a nun, Catalina Tomas, was blessed in heaven by the Pope.
• 21st September: Sant Mateu fiestas. Local festival in Bunyola.
• Last Sunday of the month: the day of 'Festa des Vermada', Binissalem. A very colourful and fun festival in celebration of the grape harvest in Binissalem, the centre of the wine industry in Mallorca. After the harvesting of the grapes a rocket is fired and the young villagers follow a drummer and piper to a field where there is a grape fight!

October

• First Sunday of the month: Torrada d'es Botifarro'.. This is the Fiesta of the traditional Mallorcan black pudding. Butifarrones, slices of pork and sobrassada are roasted on BBQs and eaten with wine or beer.
• Third Saturday of the month: Santa Catalina Tomas 'La Beateta', Palma. Local fiestas in Palma de Mallorca.

November

• 30th November: Sant Andreu fiestas, Santanyi. Local fiestas in Santanyi.

December

• 24th / 25th December: Christmas. Whilst the Spanish do not traditionally celebrate Christmas in the same way as the British, in more recent years many elements including Santa Claus and Christmas tress have crept into the Spanish and Mallorcan culture. This has not, of course, stopped the Mallorcans from celebrating Three Kings and their older more traditional events that follow on through January.
• 31st December: New Years Eve celebrations. Parties and fireworks throughout the island plus in Palma 'l'Estandard', to honour the Christian conquest of Palma in 1229.