Mallorca is set to become even more accessible for American travelers as United Airlines resumes its direct flights from New York to Palmain May, offering a seamless connection to this Mediterranean paradise. Excitingly, United Airlines has announced plans to increase these flights by more than 50% this summer, with the route staying in operation until 24 October—one month longer than last year.
Revealed during a joint press conference with the Council of Mallorca at the Fitur fair in Madrid, the airline also confirmed an upgrade in flight frequency, increasing from three to four times a week, and a switch to the larger Boeing 767-400 aircraft to accommodate growing demand. With these enhancements, there’s no better time to plan your visit to Mallorca. May and June will offer an unforgettable mix of sunshine, culture, and unique events—here’s what to look forward to when those flights touch down.
May: Spring fairs and Moors versus Christians
They refer to it as Es Firó, the day after the May fair in Soller. While it implies a form of fair, Es Firó in Soller has an altogether different meaning - it is the day for the reenactment of events that occurred on May 11, 1561. Moors versus Christians, the Moors having been Ottoman pirates who raided Soller on that day. There are heroes and there are heroines, notably Captain Joan Angelats and the Brave Women. The chief villain of the piece is Ulutx Ali. After some six hours of mock battle in both Puerto Soller and Soller, the captain overcomes the Moors commander. This climax is a fabrication, but no one minds; it’s the spectacle that counts. And what a spectacle it truly is; an undoubted highlight of the Mallorcan year.
Soller’s fair is one of many. For the most part these are traditional May and spring fairs. There are three on May Day, one of them in the village of Costitx. The flowers fair this offers a sight to behold - a village adorned and decorated with flowers. Among the various other fairs, one stands out above all others, for it is Mallorca’s oldest fair - Sineu’s. It’s said to date from 1318, although there is some debate about this. Let’s just say that it has a very long history.
Sineu is a celebration of rural Mallorca, as is the Campos May fair, a highlight of which is the contest for Friesian cows. It doesn’t really get much more rural. In Pollensa, meanwhile, there is a more contemporary fair. In the summer of 1999, a group of friends formed an association brought together those involved with winemaking and others who wanted to learn about wine. Five years later the first Pollensa Wine Fair was held. The island’s top wine event, up to 40 bodegas are represented each year.
Wine Days
The Binissalem DO was Mallorca’s first wine designation of origin, and it organises Wine Days Mallorca, a ten-day series of events related to the wineries in Binissalem and the other municipalities covered by the DO.
Medieval Mallorca
If Sineu can unquestionably point to a mediaeval past, then so can Capdepera. Its castle was built in the fourteenth century, and over a weekend in May the castle is one of the locations for what, since the first in 2000, has become a hugely popular event - the Mediaeval Market. Other than stalls with a mediaeval theme, there are fantastic characters, there is mediaeval combat, there is dance and music.
All for sports
May has its share of top sports events that attract participants from far and wide. Magalluf stages the Majorca Beach Rugby tournament, Santa Ponsa has the Mallorca Football Tournament, and Puerto Alcudia is the base for the Zafiro Ironman 70.3, a challenge taken up each year by some 4,000 athletes.
Other fairs in May - Binissalem (stone fair, last weekend), Buger, Cala Millor, Campanet, Felanitx, Lloret de Vistalegre, Manacor (over two weekends), Sant Jordi (snails), Sencelles.
June: Mallorca Live and Hairy Johns
The Mallorca Live Festival was first held at the end of April 2016. The venue was the Son Fusteret showground in Palma. The festival aspired to fill a notable gap in Mallorca’s music scene. There was no truly international festival for pop, rock, indie and other genres in Mallorca; not one to attract really top acts. In order to meet this ambition, a different venue was sought. It was found in Magalluf, the site of the old Aquapark.
The festival is now well and truly established. It has proved to be an overwhelming success. In 2024 the headliners over the three nights were Blondie, Pet Shop Boys and Underworld. There are different stages for artists from Spain, Europe, the States and beyond, while the site is put to greater use than just the festival. From mid-July to end-August, the Es Jardí (Garden) season also brings leading performers to Mallorca.
The night of fire and Hairy John
June is the month when the summer fiestas get into gear, the first being for Sant Joan, John the Baptist, whose feast day of June 24 ties in with rituals for the summer solstice. In Mallorca these can mean going to beaches on the eve of Sant Joan, though having small bonfires on beaches (linked to fertility rites) is now frowned upon.
But fire is never far away when the fiestas are under way, and June 23 is the Nit de Foc, Night of Fire in Palma. This is the second of the city’s annual huge demons correfocs (plus assorted beasts of fire), the first being in January for Saint Sebastian.
There is a character in Mallorca known as Sant Joan Pelós (or Pelut). Based on John the Baptist, the translation can be taken to mean Hairy John. The hairiness refers to animal skin, but over time the popular image is of a long-haired John with a mask. This is how Sant Joan Pelós is in Felanitx and Pollensa. In Sant Llorenç he has a short back and sides and no mask.
The Felanitx John, who dances on June 24, has been declared a fiesta in the cultural interest, meaning that measures must be taken to preserve and indeed promote the tradition. There are only four Hairy Johns (Sant Joan has one as well), and they all share a common background of having developed from old processions for Corpus Christi. In Pollensa, the John dances on the Sunday following Corpus Christi, which is when processions are held. He is accompanied by the Eagles, two young women with dresses containing jewels and figures of an eagle around their waists; these eagles also have their roots in Corpus Christi celebrations.
ATP Championship
Rather like there didn’t used to be a major pop festival in Mallorca, so there also wasn’t a top tennis tournament. There once was - it was on clay and ended in 2002 - but for the island of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya, the lack of a tournament looked like an oversight. With Nadal’s uncle Toni as director, the first ATP 250 Mallorca Championship was due to have been in 2020. Covid delayed this by a year. In the short time since it has been going, the tournament, which is played on grass, has become an important pre-Wimbledon workout.
Other fairs and fiestas in June: Lloseta (shoes), Biniali (traditional games), Puigpunyent, Sa Pobla (potato gastronomy), Santa Ponsa (Andalusian), Selva (myrtle), Arta, Porreres (apricots), Marratxi; Sant Joan fiestas (June 24) in Calvia, Deya, Mancor de la Vall, Muro, Portopetro, Sant Joan, Son Servera; Sant Pere fiestas (June 29) in Andratx, Buger, Colonia Sant Pere, Esporles, Puerto Alcudia, Puerto Pollensa.
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