Fiestas

The battle in Pollensa's streets

Christians repelling Moors in Pollensa. | Pere Bota

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPollensa02/08/2019 19:46

It is one of the most anticipated of summer fiesta events in Majorca - the Moors and Christians battle in Pollensa. A re-enactment of what happened in May 1550, the Pollensa hero, the captain Joan Mas, led his white-clad Christians as he does each year. As ever, the action started on Friday evening with Joan Mas's appeal to the Mare de Déu dels Àngels and his confrontation with the Ottoman admiral, Dragut.

For the first time since 1864, women took part. Documentary evidence has shown that women used to be in the re-enactment, which is believed to have first been staged in 1857. There was no battle between 1865 and 1881, and when it was revived in 1882, there were no women.