Someone really should have a word. Time was in Mallorca when the citizens of a village would keep local tailors and dressmakers in gainful employment by taking themselves off once a year to acquire a new suit or gown for the annual fair or fiesta. Sadly for those traditional shops, the demand fell away, although some staggered on until remarkably recently. In Sa Pobla, where things don't get much more Mallorcan, the last tailor's shop in town closed down only two years ago.
The ritual of the yearly new suit - one which, in truth, was only affordable by comparatively few - has long since fallen victim to the onset of the casual and to the arrival of such traditionally Mallorcan retailers as Primark. Nevertheless, one can still witness some adherents to the old ways: those who do actually dress up for fairs and what have you.
Certain politicians in Mallorca, ones wedded to traditional ways, of which there appear to be an ever-increasing number, could easily revive the village tailoring cottage industry by supplying demand for such a revival. Alas, this seems most unlikely, even if it is somewhat contradictory. Més, representatives of all things Mallorcan in a nationalist sort of fashion, are revealing themselves to have (with one exception, see below) absolutely no fashion sense whatsoever and to be unwilling to beat a path to a tailor's or any other shop that isn't a charity one.
Dijous Bo, when Mallorca puts on its finery and celebrates its fair antiquity, is an occasion to be seen. And that goes for politicians. They are seen, and what a sight some of them are, which is why someone should have a word. Take our Vince, for example. He may be agriculture minister, but this is no reason for him pitching up, looking as if he's just dug up some potatoes and stuffed them down the legs of his jeans. And what in Heaven's name did he have on his feet? Whatever they were, they had long since had any acquaintance with polish. (To be fair, they were probably trainers; an old pair at that.)
Then we had David Abril. He has in the past been spotted wearing what looks like a woollen, brown tie affair, which has thus far been his greatest concession to normal political fashion but which is also in keeping with his usual appearance - as it was at Dijous Bo - one reminiscent of a member of an English folk group circa 1965. At least he doesn't stick a finger in one ear. Or maybe he does.
But did we perhaps witness a demonstration of fashion (or non-fashion) infighting within Més? Vince and Dave are remaining firmly in sympathy with crisis-struck citizens, while elsewhere Biel is gadding around in quasi-Armani style. It's bound to have to come to all the best eco-nationalist politicians eventually, especially those who are sent abroad on official duties, but Biel is clearly displaying revisionist fashionista tendencies. Smart suit, tie, shoes well-scrubbed; they had all been on show at a very different fair - London's World Travel Market - where the suits and the gowns of the dreaded hoteliers do all come with an Armani label.
The political casual look doesn't have to be one that has been dragged in by the cat. J.R. (Bauzá) used to make a decent fist of the casual style on his periodic dress down Fridays (or normally Sundays, when he'd attend a PP function at a time when the rest of the PP were still speaking to him). Well-tailored jeans were very much de rigueur. So much so that it seemed as if an order had been issued to make sure all other PP types (male) invested in customised Levi's. Now, however, we get Vince, whose jeans are in a constant state of about to fall down. Tailored is the last word you would use. What a pity for all the old traditional tailor's shops.
Showing posts with label Dijous Bo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dijous Bo. Show all posts
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Saturday, November 12, 2016
The Antiquity Of Goodness: Dijous Bo
The Balearic tourism ministry was proudly announcing at the World Travel Market that "traditional" fairs are to form part of its promotional efforts for the low season. An immediate question that this raises is why they haven't apparently been considered important in the past. While it is true to say that what generally lamentable low-season attempts have been made until now have included the fairs and also fiestas, an impression given is that this has been done simply because they exist rather than because they demand being pushed in a coherent marketing fashion.
A further impression, for far too long, has been that low-season occasions, such as fairs, are solely Mallorcan affairs; what visitors there might be have been treated as a bonus or nuisance, depending on point of view. Yet fairs are also part of the wider culture and heritage of Mallorca, something which has been promoted in times past, but which was far more of a focus in promotional terms in the first half of the last century (at least until the war anyway) than was subsequently the case. The ministry now plans to give culture and heritage more of a centre stage.
It's not as if parts of the island haven't recognised that there is genuine value to be extracted from occasions like fairs. But this value has still been determined by the limits of tourism seasons. In Alcudia, for example, an old fair that used to be held was revived in 1989. Initially it was in November. It was moved forward by a month because no tourists were going.
November qualifies as low season, aka and misleadingly the winter season (Mallorca's tourism defies seasonal convention by only having two seasons). In the middle of it is the biggest fair of all. Subject to arguments with Sineu (and Sineu can offer strong proof), it is the oldest fair - Dijous Bo.
This does, however, require some qualifying of a geographical nature. Palma had fairs before either Inca or Sineu emerged. Dijous Bo is, therefore, a champion of the "part forana", i.e. all of the island except Palma. Both towns were accorded royal privilege in the early fourteenth century to hold fairs, a duopoly that wasn't to be broken until Llucmajor's challenge to it in the mid-sixteenth century.
In the case of Inca certainly, its fairs and markets became a focus for tensions that existed with Palma. For current-day promoters of the island's culture and its traditional fairs, it should be instructive to explain how Mallorca became in essence two separate entities - Palma and the rest, a division which still very much exists. The late fourteenth century artisans of the part forana treated Inca as the principal expression of their separateness from Palma. Such was the antagonism with the capital that in 1463 there was a plot to assassinate members of the government who were going to the fair. This owed no small amount to a several decade dispute over taxes derived from the town's market.
None of this explains, however, when Dijous Bo started. The fourteenth-century angle is somewhat misleading. The traditional Thursday market can with some certainty be traced back to 1258. It is logical to assume, therefore, that a grander market, as in a fair, piggybacked onto the Thursday market. But Dijous Bo, as in the name, was a much later invention, while its definitive place in the November calendar has to do with the Llucmajor intervention. The compromise that was reached once Inca (and Sineu) had failed to overturn in the courts the granting of a fair to Llucmajor in 1545 led to the scheduling of the four Inca fairs as they now are. The Thursday in November when it is held is erroneously attributed to it always being the third Thursday in the month. It isn't; it is the fourth Thursday after the feast of Saint Luke (18 October).
The first time that there is any written evidence of the name Dijous Bo comes from an 1807 work by historian Josep Barberi. This says that the Thursday fair of the sequence was locally referred to as "bo" because of the amount of business that was done. Although the word "bo" can mean good, it was taken more to mean convenient, as in suitable for purpose. A later interpretation was that it meant much or most, because of its sheer scale and therefore because it had become the most important market in Mallorca.
Despite uncertainties over its origin, there is no doubting the fact that Dijous Bo is the island's most important fair. It is also, regardless of the modernity it now has, the most traditional. How well will it be promoted?
* Dijous Bo is this coming Thursday, 17 November.
A further impression, for far too long, has been that low-season occasions, such as fairs, are solely Mallorcan affairs; what visitors there might be have been treated as a bonus or nuisance, depending on point of view. Yet fairs are also part of the wider culture and heritage of Mallorca, something which has been promoted in times past, but which was far more of a focus in promotional terms in the first half of the last century (at least until the war anyway) than was subsequently the case. The ministry now plans to give culture and heritage more of a centre stage.
It's not as if parts of the island haven't recognised that there is genuine value to be extracted from occasions like fairs. But this value has still been determined by the limits of tourism seasons. In Alcudia, for example, an old fair that used to be held was revived in 1989. Initially it was in November. It was moved forward by a month because no tourists were going.
November qualifies as low season, aka and misleadingly the winter season (Mallorca's tourism defies seasonal convention by only having two seasons). In the middle of it is the biggest fair of all. Subject to arguments with Sineu (and Sineu can offer strong proof), it is the oldest fair - Dijous Bo.
This does, however, require some qualifying of a geographical nature. Palma had fairs before either Inca or Sineu emerged. Dijous Bo is, therefore, a champion of the "part forana", i.e. all of the island except Palma. Both towns were accorded royal privilege in the early fourteenth century to hold fairs, a duopoly that wasn't to be broken until Llucmajor's challenge to it in the mid-sixteenth century.
In the case of Inca certainly, its fairs and markets became a focus for tensions that existed with Palma. For current-day promoters of the island's culture and its traditional fairs, it should be instructive to explain how Mallorca became in essence two separate entities - Palma and the rest, a division which still very much exists. The late fourteenth century artisans of the part forana treated Inca as the principal expression of their separateness from Palma. Such was the antagonism with the capital that in 1463 there was a plot to assassinate members of the government who were going to the fair. This owed no small amount to a several decade dispute over taxes derived from the town's market.
None of this explains, however, when Dijous Bo started. The fourteenth-century angle is somewhat misleading. The traditional Thursday market can with some certainty be traced back to 1258. It is logical to assume, therefore, that a grander market, as in a fair, piggybacked onto the Thursday market. But Dijous Bo, as in the name, was a much later invention, while its definitive place in the November calendar has to do with the Llucmajor intervention. The compromise that was reached once Inca (and Sineu) had failed to overturn in the courts the granting of a fair to Llucmajor in 1545 led to the scheduling of the four Inca fairs as they now are. The Thursday in November when it is held is erroneously attributed to it always being the third Thursday in the month. It isn't; it is the fourth Thursday after the feast of Saint Luke (18 October).
The first time that there is any written evidence of the name Dijous Bo comes from an 1807 work by historian Josep Barberi. This says that the Thursday fair of the sequence was locally referred to as "bo" because of the amount of business that was done. Although the word "bo" can mean good, it was taken more to mean convenient, as in suitable for purpose. A later interpretation was that it meant much or most, because of its sheer scale and therefore because it had become the most important market in Mallorca.
Despite uncertainties over its origin, there is no doubting the fact that Dijous Bo is the island's most important fair. It is also, regardless of the modernity it now has, the most traditional. How well will it be promoted?
* Dijous Bo is this coming Thursday, 17 November.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Saint Luke And The Fairs Of Inca
The town, along with Sineu, were granted royal privileges in the fourteenth century to stage fairs in the "part forana", i.e. outside of Palma. Historians say it is not possible to determine exactly when these fairs started, but as Sineu can place a date on its May Sa Fira to 1318, they would date from more or less the same time. Indeed, Inca did apparently at one time have a spring May fair but, because the two towns operated a form of duopoly, the decision was made to switch Inca's fairs to the autumn. Inca's importance as a commercial centre, which was the case in the years after the Catalan conquest, partly explains why there are four fairs, but that's not the whole story.
The first fair was, in mediaeval times, held on the feast day of Saint Luke, which is today, 18 October. The second and third fairs took place on the two following Sundays, while the fourth, which was to come to be known as Dijous Bo, was not permitted to be held on a Sunday. That was because it was the day to celebrate Santa Maria la Major. It was moved to the Thursday and in the process created additional excitement, greater participation and what was eventually to lead to its name. There is an old expression - "quin dijous més bò - what better Thursday. The name Dijous Bo may well have been around for much longer, but a documented record of the name appeared for the first time in 1807.
The fairs still follow this pattern but not quite. In 1542 the town of Llucmajor petitioned Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, to be allowed to hold a fair. Inca and Sineu were having none of it and so they took the matter to court. They lost. In 1545 Llucmajor held its first fair. The problem was that, in addition to a breaking of the duopoly, its fair was going to clash with Inca's first fair. It would in fact be a series of markets from the feast day of Saint Michael (29 September) up to and including Saint Luke (incidentally the Catalan name Sant Lluc plays no part in Llucmajor's name, that has to do with an ancient word for forest). Inca, therefore, compromised and moved its first fair to the first Sunday after Saint Luke, which is still the case. Though there are events for the fair in Inca today, the main day is most certainly tomorrow - the first Sunday after Saint Luke.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Bad Thursdays: Mallorca's November weather
The largest fair to be held in Mallorca is Inca's Dijous Bo. It is always held on the same Thursday (dijous) in November, one that falls more or less in the middle of the month. "Bo" means good. Almost inevitably though, the weather for Dijous Bo is less than good. It always appear to be grey when it takes place, and sometimes the weather is worse.
In 2001, Dijous Bo, which should have been held on 15 November, was cancelled. Some indoor events went ahead but the outdoor events - most of the fair therefore - were impossible. On the front cover of the "Majorca Daily Bulletin" for that day, there was a headline which simply said: "Freezing". The island was on emergency footing after a forecast for freak weather had been issued. The emergency meant no Dijous Bo. It was a bad Thursday, and a photo of heavy snow in the mountains the day before showed just how bad things were.
In the paper for that day before, a report said that wind, rain and snow were to return. The report was accurate. On the same page as this report was a headline which read: "Balearics ask Madrid to declare the region a disaster zone". And yet, the freezing weather hadn't yet caused the havoc that it was going to on that Wednesday. So why would the Balearics have been looking for the region to have been declared a disaster zone?
That was because of what had happened a few days before. On the Sunday (11 November), the headline informed us that the Balearics had been battered by biting winds and torrential rain. There was more to come on that Sunday. Mallorca was living through what has gone down in the island's weather legend as the big storm or the hurricane of 2001. Snow, high winds, flooding, trees uprooted, roofs torn off, roads impassable and subsequently in need of repair, two people dead. And when it looked as though the worst of the weather was over, on the Wednesday came the freezing conditions and even more snow.
If you read through the report on Sunday, 11 November, you will note that it says: "hard to believe that this time last week people were on the beaches and even in the sea". It is a report which will sound very familiar. Mallorca hasn't been battered by quite the same weather as it was in November 2001, but in November 2013, the sudden transformation from summer conditions to dreadful conditions has been similar to what happened in 2001. Dijous Bo, for which the weather this year was rainy, went ahead without any problem. Had it been a day later, things might have been different. The rain was torrential, while in the mountains, where the temperatures are lower, the snow fell.
One of the more remarkable aspects about the bad weather that Mallorca has just been suffering is the amount of surprise that has been expressed. It does perhaps show the power of social media that photos of snow in the mountains have been met with incredulity and even suggestions that the photos were fake. Those who are unfamiliar with Mallorca's weather probably would find the photos hard to comprehend. But were they to consult weather records, they would comprehend an awful lot more.
The rainfall data for the Albufera weather station gives you an idea. These data are from 1987 to the current time. The average rainfall in November makes it the second wettest month of the year. October is wetter, but its slightly higher average is skewed by what occurred in 1990 - the great flood. Nearly 400mm of rain fell in October 1990. The second wettest (1994) registered 277mm, also in October.
When the records for this November are totted up, it may well prove to have been the wettest November since 1987. It will therefore top 2011 and 2012, which are in positions one and two in terms of rainfall, and in both years, when colder weather pushed in as well, in the mountains there was snow in November.
The exceptionally warm weather of more than a week ago created something of a false impression. With highs nudging the 30 degrees mark, these were far from normal. In the past few years, from 2005, the highest temperatures had been in 2009 and 2006 (26 degrees), and, astonishingly enough, in 2006 this was on 25 November. A year later, on 18 November 2007, there was a record low of 1.5C.
All this goes to show, as if of course we needed any reminding, that weather is unpredictable, and November in Mallorca can be very unpredictable. The high temperatures earlier in the month had many clutching at a winter-sun-tourism straw only to find that a few days later, the straw was buried under snow or had been washed away by a deluge of quite biblical proportions. It is this unpredictability which is at the heart of why the season ends when it does end. We should all admit that this is why it ends when it does end, and if we can't admit this, then we should take a look at the weather data, and if we still need some more convincing we should look at those reports from 2001.
In 2001, Dijous Bo, which should have been held on 15 November, was cancelled. Some indoor events went ahead but the outdoor events - most of the fair therefore - were impossible. On the front cover of the "Majorca Daily Bulletin" for that day, there was a headline which simply said: "Freezing". The island was on emergency footing after a forecast for freak weather had been issued. The emergency meant no Dijous Bo. It was a bad Thursday, and a photo of heavy snow in the mountains the day before showed just how bad things were.
In the paper for that day before, a report said that wind, rain and snow were to return. The report was accurate. On the same page as this report was a headline which read: "Balearics ask Madrid to declare the region a disaster zone". And yet, the freezing weather hadn't yet caused the havoc that it was going to on that Wednesday. So why would the Balearics have been looking for the region to have been declared a disaster zone?
That was because of what had happened a few days before. On the Sunday (11 November), the headline informed us that the Balearics had been battered by biting winds and torrential rain. There was more to come on that Sunday. Mallorca was living through what has gone down in the island's weather legend as the big storm or the hurricane of 2001. Snow, high winds, flooding, trees uprooted, roofs torn off, roads impassable and subsequently in need of repair, two people dead. And when it looked as though the worst of the weather was over, on the Wednesday came the freezing conditions and even more snow.
If you read through the report on Sunday, 11 November, you will note that it says: "hard to believe that this time last week people were on the beaches and even in the sea". It is a report which will sound very familiar. Mallorca hasn't been battered by quite the same weather as it was in November 2001, but in November 2013, the sudden transformation from summer conditions to dreadful conditions has been similar to what happened in 2001. Dijous Bo, for which the weather this year was rainy, went ahead without any problem. Had it been a day later, things might have been different. The rain was torrential, while in the mountains, where the temperatures are lower, the snow fell.
One of the more remarkable aspects about the bad weather that Mallorca has just been suffering is the amount of surprise that has been expressed. It does perhaps show the power of social media that photos of snow in the mountains have been met with incredulity and even suggestions that the photos were fake. Those who are unfamiliar with Mallorca's weather probably would find the photos hard to comprehend. But were they to consult weather records, they would comprehend an awful lot more.
The rainfall data for the Albufera weather station gives you an idea. These data are from 1987 to the current time. The average rainfall in November makes it the second wettest month of the year. October is wetter, but its slightly higher average is skewed by what occurred in 1990 - the great flood. Nearly 400mm of rain fell in October 1990. The second wettest (1994) registered 277mm, also in October.
When the records for this November are totted up, it may well prove to have been the wettest November since 1987. It will therefore top 2011 and 2012, which are in positions one and two in terms of rainfall, and in both years, when colder weather pushed in as well, in the mountains there was snow in November.
The exceptionally warm weather of more than a week ago created something of a false impression. With highs nudging the 30 degrees mark, these were far from normal. In the past few years, from 2005, the highest temperatures had been in 2009 and 2006 (26 degrees), and, astonishingly enough, in 2006 this was on 25 November. A year later, on 18 November 2007, there was a record low of 1.5C.
All this goes to show, as if of course we needed any reminding, that weather is unpredictable, and November in Mallorca can be very unpredictable. The high temperatures earlier in the month had many clutching at a winter-sun-tourism straw only to find that a few days later, the straw was buried under snow or had been washed away by a deluge of quite biblical proportions. It is this unpredictability which is at the heart of why the season ends when it does end. We should all admit that this is why it ends when it does end, and if we can't admit this, then we should take a look at the weather data, and if we still need some more convincing we should look at those reports from 2001.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Days Of Future Passed
More fairs. Fairs of differing kinds.
In London the World Travel Market fair opened today. It signals the opportunity for the Balearics to press further their claim on the hearts of the vital British tourism market. The other day the editor of “The Bulletin” expressed a concern about the prominence that Balearics leader Francesc Antich was giving to tourism. Well Antich is one of the delegation pitching up in London. Perhaps that gives the answer.
The fine weather has brought out the hordes to the various autumn fairs. One other that is ongoing is the fair in Inca. “Dijous Bo”, which I take to mean good Thursday, is - like many events here - a several-day affair and not just a dijous. This is the grandest of the island’s fairs. Like the fiestas, the fairs represent a cultural aspect of Mallorcan life that many would no longer recognise in Britain. There is a civic pride in the fairs; they are to be found across the island in all manner of locations during the autumn. And there is something more than just pride; there is an assertion of the qualities of the towns and the island. The “Diario” waxed lyrically in Mallorquín on this: “a fair is not a commemoration of the past; a fair is the exhibition of the present and of the future, a demonstration of the capabilities of the people of one place in today’s society”. Blimey.
Past or not, the island’s fairs do offer a continuity with years gone by, with the island’s history. I said the other day that Mallorca’s history is a side-show compared with that of the mainland. This is the case, but it doesn’t make the digging into this history any less worthwhile. The “Ultima Hora” weekend supplement “Brisas” often features items about the island’s history. The most recent is no different. It highlights the story of a community formed in the final quarter of the nineteenth century in the Albufera area. This community was known as Gatamoix. It came about under a law which permitted the colonisation of coastal areas for the purpose of creating productive agricultural areas. The story of Gatamoix, its founding and its subsequent decline, is linked to a British company which undertook to dry out parts of Albufera. It is a story of dealing with what was an unhealthy place because of malaria, and of confronting the problems of salt and of maintaining the dried-out parts of Albufera. The community lasted for less than fifty years, and all that now remains is one house.
History: it’s all around you; just a case of finding it.
QUIZ
Yesterday - “Our House”, Crosby, Stills and Nash (Young had yet to join). Today’s title - album by?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
In London the World Travel Market fair opened today. It signals the opportunity for the Balearics to press further their claim on the hearts of the vital British tourism market. The other day the editor of “The Bulletin” expressed a concern about the prominence that Balearics leader Francesc Antich was giving to tourism. Well Antich is one of the delegation pitching up in London. Perhaps that gives the answer.
The fine weather has brought out the hordes to the various autumn fairs. One other that is ongoing is the fair in Inca. “Dijous Bo”, which I take to mean good Thursday, is - like many events here - a several-day affair and not just a dijous. This is the grandest of the island’s fairs. Like the fiestas, the fairs represent a cultural aspect of Mallorcan life that many would no longer recognise in Britain. There is a civic pride in the fairs; they are to be found across the island in all manner of locations during the autumn. And there is something more than just pride; there is an assertion of the qualities of the towns and the island. The “Diario” waxed lyrically in Mallorquín on this: “a fair is not a commemoration of the past; a fair is the exhibition of the present and of the future, a demonstration of the capabilities of the people of one place in today’s society”. Blimey.
Past or not, the island’s fairs do offer a continuity with years gone by, with the island’s history. I said the other day that Mallorca’s history is a side-show compared with that of the mainland. This is the case, but it doesn’t make the digging into this history any less worthwhile. The “Ultima Hora” weekend supplement “Brisas” often features items about the island’s history. The most recent is no different. It highlights the story of a community formed in the final quarter of the nineteenth century in the Albufera area. This community was known as Gatamoix. It came about under a law which permitted the colonisation of coastal areas for the purpose of creating productive agricultural areas. The story of Gatamoix, its founding and its subsequent decline, is linked to a British company which undertook to dry out parts of Albufera. It is a story of dealing with what was an unhealthy place because of malaria, and of confronting the problems of salt and of maintaining the dried-out parts of Albufera. The community lasted for less than fifty years, and all that now remains is one house.
History: it’s all around you; just a case of finding it.
QUIZ
Yesterday - “Our House”, Crosby, Stills and Nash (Young had yet to join). Today’s title - album by?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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