The 'pancaritat' pilgrimage fiestas

Pancaritat literally means bread charity.

It has a mediaeval origin. The poor would be given bread that had been blessed, and the day traditionally associated with this eventually came to be Angel Sunday, a week after Easter Sunday.

Over time, the pancaritat developed into something of a fiesta. The elements of it nowadays are a pilgrimage, a mass and then games, folk dance, food and drink. Various places in Mallorca have a pancaritat, but nowhere really does the occasion on a more elaborate scale than Sa Pobla.

The pilgrimage from the centre of Sa Pobla (which can be by special bus as well as on foot) is to the Crestatx oratory, where it is reckoned there has been some sort of fiesta since the fourteenth century. So, there is a great deal of history attached as well as custom, which includes the costumes of the 'barretiners' - white tunics and green conical-shaped hats with flowery ribbons.