Christopher And Simon: Fiestas in July

As the deep heat of summer takes over, the fiestas' season moves on from Saint Peter as one of the chief saintly focal points to Saint Christopher. Maybe some thought should be given to his being made the patron saint of Mallorca's tourists. He is, after all, the saint of travellers, while he has saintly responsibilities for a specific aspect of tourism - driving. The car-rental agencies of Mallorca should offer replicas of Saint Christopher medallions to their clients on Friday this week.

10 July is the day of Saint Christopher, otherwise known in Catalan as Sant Cristòfol, a saint around whom there is some historical confusion. Was he martyred as a result of his death during the reign of Emperor Decius or Emperor Maximinus Dacian? Was he in fact also Saint Menas? Does his name of Christ bearer imply someone more of mythical origin than factual? It is often the way with saints. Doubts surround their stories.

Despite Saint Christopher being one of the better-known saints, he isn't universally celebrated by the Catholic Church. His place in the liturgy was removed in 1970, as it was felt that he was not to be fully in the Roman tradition. Being dropped from the liturgy doesn't, however, prevent his commemoration where it has long been a tradition - the Church is flexible in such matters. In Mallorca, there has been such a tradition, and so Cristòfol is the featured saint this week in Arenal and the tiny village of Biniali, some eight kilometres outside Binissalem but actually in the municipality of Sencelles.

This unassuming village and its fiestas have, curiously enough, created something of a flashpoint in past years. Its night parties, of which there are two this week, attract many visitors from outside the village and one of them has been the occasion for a spot of bother between youth and forces of the law. In fact, it was a minor clash between some members of the Arran sort-of-revolutionary group with plod. Things are now calmer, however. If you go to Biniali, you certainly won't miss the fiestas, as there isn't exactly a great deal to the village (couple of bars, a tabacs and not a lot besides), but in terms of Mallorcan small community rural authenticity, it doesn't get a lot more authentic than Biniali, except perhaps when the night parties are in full swing.

The day of Sant Cristòfol does require an explanation. His feast day isn't 10 July, which is when it is celebrated locally and elsewhere in Spain. It is in fact 25 July, but Christopher was shunted to 10 July because otherwise he would have clashed with one of the most important, if not the most important, of all Spanish saints, James the Apostle, aka Sant Jaume in Catalan.

More widely celebrated than Christopher is the Virgin or Mother of God of Carmel, known locally as the Virgen del Carmen. The fiestas' title is often abbreviated to simply the Carmen (or Carme) fiestas. Her day is 16 July, but her fiestas tend to be movable, so that the main days fall over a weekend. There are several places in Mallorca which recognise her - Cala Bona, Cala Figuera, Cala Ratjada, Capdellà in Calvia, Porto Cristo, Portol in Marratxi, Puerto Pollensa.

Her story is one that owes almost everything to an English saint by the name of Simon Stock. Simon, who was around from the mid-twelfth century to the mid-thirteenth, joined the Carmelite Order and in 1251, so the story goes, he had a vision of several invocations of the Virgin Mary. And the date when he had the vision was 16 July: hence, the fiestas.

Another saint muscling in on the fiestas' act is Santa Margalida (Margaret of Antioch). She, like Christopher, has a questionable backstory. Indeed, it is even more unlikely than Christopher's as it involved being swallowed by Satan masquerading as a dragon and surviving. Anyway, she lived long enough to, for instance, give her name to an entire town, as in Santa Margalida, and they'll be having a demons' fire-run in her honour this Saturday.

Other saints looming on the July fiestas' horizon or already present include Victoria (not female) in Campanet, plus of course Praxedis, the unknown patron of Petra, and the biggy - good old Saint James, who is all over the place - Alcudia, Calvia, Sa Pobla, to name but three.