How The Fiesta Of Virgen Del Carmen Came To Be

Among my writing responsibilities for the Majorca Daily Bulletin is that of being Miquel Ferrà i Martorell, the paper's "history man". (Actually he is one of several, as there is also Andy Rawson, myself, Andy Valente when it comes to the history of food and good old George Giri with his reflections on times of yore.) Miquel has been resident historian for years and when I say I am him, what I mean is that I put his articles into English. Rather than translations, they are often more like English versions on account of editing, and this editing can include additions to the original. And one such addition is the point of this story.

I was going to highlight this week's Miquel article on Facebook when I realised that Miquel has been moved to a Thursday, so it was too late when I discovered the fact; hence, why I am doing so here. The article is about an English saint, Simon Stock, with whom, I fancy, most English people would be unfamiliar.

Simon, whose surname was derived from a word to mean tree trunk as legend has it that he spent several years of his life as a hermit living inside a hollowed-out tree, lived between 1165 and 1265, though there is a question mark over his birth year just as there is also some debate as to whether he was born in Aylesford, Kent or not. But he was certainly closely associated with Aylesford and this association was confirmed when, Simon having abandoned his hermitic existence, the first general chapter of the Carmelite Order to be held outside the Holy Land convened in Aylesford in 1247; Simon had chosen to join the Carmelites.

Without going into the detail of Miquel's article and so to cut to the chase, the most notable occurrence in Simon's devotion was that of a vision he had in 1251 of one of several invocations of the Virgin Mary, i.e. the Virgen del Carmen, whose scapular, represented in many a religious painting, featured the emblem of Mount Carmel. And it is this vision which led to what I added to the article, as it is of some no small relevance to the fiesta of Virgen del Carmen; in Puerto Pollensa, this is the main fiesta of the year.

The important point in this story was the exact date in 1251 when Simon had that vision. It was 16 July, and as a result of the vision, 16 July has long been allocated as the feast date for the Virgen del Carmen. Therefore, the fiesta that is celebrated in Puerto Pollensa can be attributed to this English saint, Simon Stock. Prior to Miquel's article, I was unaware of this fact and I imagine that there are many others who are equally unaware. Given the close connection between Puerto Pollensa and Britain, it seems somehow appropriate, but more than this there is the curiosity of how a current-day fiesta came into being, as, unlike many others, it wasn't dependent upon a saint's day which is typically defined by birth or death.