Palma's Nit de Foc for Midsummer's Eve (Sant Joan Eve)

Palma's Nit de Foc for Midsummer's Eve (Sant Joan Eve). | P. PELLICER

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma12/06/2023 15:45
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The big summer fiestas will soon be under way, big taken to mean that there are certain saints who are celebrated widely as also are narratives for the Virgin Mary.

John the Baptist’s birthdate of June 24 was established in the fourth century. Six months before the birth of Christ, the fiestas for Sant Joan Baptista in Mallorca manifest themselves not just by beach rituals of water and fire on Midsummer’s Eve (Sant Joan Eve) but also by fire traditions on land, none more so than Palma’s Nit de Foc, the correfoc fire-run that brings together numerous gangs of demons.

The fiestas then come thick and fast. The feast day for Sant Pere, Saint Peter the Fisherman, is June 29; for the Verge del Carme (Our Lady of Carmel), July 16; Sant Jaume, Saint James or Santiago in Spain, July 25; Mare de Déu d’Agost (Assumption of the Virgin Mary), August 15; Sant Roc, August 16; Sant Bartomeu (Bartholomew the Apostle), August 24; Mare de Déu de la Salut (the birth of the Virgin Mary, September 8).

There are various other saints, e.g. Abdon and Senen in Inca, Cristòfol (Christopher) in Arenal, Llorenç (Lawrence) in Sant Llorenç among other places ... . The summer is one long fiesta, and it’s all thanks to the saints.