Palma's Festival of the Standard.

Palma's Festival of the Standard. | Alicia Mateos

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma31/12/2017 00:00
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In Palma this morning (Sunday), the celebrations for the Festival of the Standard continued. There was a break with tradition in that mayors from across the island and members of the Council of Majorca took part in the procession with the Standard. This was in recognition of today, for the first time, being Majorca Day.

The ceremony started at ten o'clock, was followed by mass at the Cathedral and then, at midday, by the reading of the poem La Colcada by Pere d'Alcàntara Penya i Nicolau.

This poem recalls a time in the past when the Festival was a much grander affair. It was written in 1861 and it starts by saying that no one knows the story any more of "our great King James". The poem was first recited for the Festival in 1935. There was a gap of thirty years before it was read again. It has been a tradition ever since.

The Festival of the Standard is said to be Europe's oldest national festival.