Balearic day will be a fiesta for everyone

Concerts, horse racing, sports events and a Mediterranean market with demonstrations of local crafts are the main activities organised by the regional government, to celebrate Balearic Island Day next Thursday, March 1, which is a public holiday. This year, the organisers have planned similar programmes for Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza, although the main official event, the presentation of the Balearic community's gold medals and the Ramon Llull prizes, will take place in Palma. The government has provided a budget of nearly 80 million pesetas to organise the events, and the aim is to entice more people to take part, according to Antoni Reines, the director general of relations with the administration. The music will be provided by the groups The Silos, Slide, Ximbomba Atómica, S'Albaida, Aires Formenteres and Nass Marrakech, who will perform in the four islands: in Ibiza on February 23, Formentera on the 24th, Majorca on the 28th and Minorca on March 1. Another novelty this year is the presentation of a translation of the autonomy statutes into English and German, which will take place in Ibiza on February 26, Palma on the 27th and Mahon (Minorca) on the 28th. There will be an exhibition of Minorcan horses in Ibiza on March 1, and an exhibition on piracy in Ibiza in Ciutadella (Minorca) from March 1 to 4. In Palma, the traditional horse race, the cursa de cos will take place on February 25, while the presentation of the gold medals and Ramon Llull prizes will be held at La Lonja on February 28 and an official ceremony will take place in Parliament on March 1. Events in Palma on March 1 include a Mediterranean market in the Huerto del Rey, horse racing in Son Rossinyol, and a craft market in the Plaza de la Drassana.