How many experts and historians does it take to change a day? As many as a day is long possibly. They haven't actually said. They being the special commission set up by the Council of Mallorca to decide on a change to a day, if indeed a change had been required. It would appear that it had been required. They've changed it.
The Council's commission has been agonising over what day should be Mallorca Day. There currently is such a day - 12 September - but for certain reasons, it was generally considered to be inappropriate. The principal reason was the person who decided that 12 September should be the day - the disgraced former president of the Council, Maria Antonia Munar. In the grand tradition (the new one, that is) of stripping away manifestations of the corrupt, 12 September has fallen victim to the persecutors.
In case you need reminding, 12 September in 1276 was the day when Good King James II (Jaume II) was crowned and issued a series of privileges to the people of Mallorca. As such, it had some legitimacy as Mallorca Day. But many considered it an invention, rather like the Council of Mallorca had itself been invented in 1979, eighteen years before Munar issued her 12 September decree. There were others who questioned the whole necessity of there being a day. What actually was and is its purpose? All about identity, a Mallorcan identity, and also all about promoting the importance of the Council. Thus, a day was required.
Since 1997 the day has failed to grip the island. A Palma-centric occasion, it isn't a holiday and little attention has been paid to it. Nowadays there is the odd giant wandering around, as there typically is for such celebrations, the Council opens its doors and invites the public (citizens) to wander round, and in an attempt to add island-wide meaning, various cultural sites also open their doors. And that, save various speeches, is about it.
Why make such a fuss about it then? Well, Munar is a very good reason for doing so. Or that is certainly how it has seemed. But experts and historians have been required to analyse the claims of 12 September and of alternatives. By involving experts and historians, the politics of a change are somehow neutered. But one didn't need to have been either an expert or a historian to have come up with the new day that they have - 31 December. Nor did one have to have been so naive as to have believed that there wasn't a fair degree of politics involved.
31 December was the obvious choice. It marks the day in 1229 when Jaume I began the process of Catalanisation of Mallorca by ejecting the Muslims from Palma. Obvious though it was, there were counter-arguments nevertheless. One was that it will clash with Palma's Festival of the Standard (all about Jaume I's intervention). Sharing the day could potentially dilute the impact of Mallorca Day. But as there isn't much to dilute in any event, the argument doesn't exactly stand up.
There were one or two rival days for the experts and historians to mull over. The day of Sant Antoni - 17 January - was one. The most important of the island's fiestas and a saint whose worship was expressly introduced and cultivated by the Jaumes, it did have some merit. But a national day that is based on a fiesta in Sa Pobla? That would never do. Palma wouldn't stand for it. The main rival to 31 December was therefore 24 April, the day in 1979 when the Council of Mallorca was constituted. This alternative was overtly political as an expression of the Council's political purpose. Who, though, would pay it any attention? Would islanders suddenly embrace Mallorca Day in a way that they haven't until now? Hardly.
Podemos were all for 24 April. PSOE were up for it as well. Their reasons differed. For PSOE it was all about the establishment of the Council. For Podemos it provided a day which didn't involve the celebration of anything monarchical. Jaume I was, after all, a king. That, according to the Podemos world view, would never do. It is also said that 24 April would avoid associating the day with "Catalanist acts". That doesn't mean being anti-Catalan, it is about the use of 31 December as a day when the politics of nationalism (and the rival politics) clash. There is this clash anyway.
In the end, Podemos relented, though they still hope that 24 April can be included in the calendar. Two Mallorca Days had been offered as a compromise. There was insufficient "consensus" for this bizarre idea, and quite rightly so. 31 December it is to be. Certain politicians, experts and historians can cheer the decision. Most of the island, especially that which isn't Palma, will stifle a yawn.
Showing posts with label Mallorca Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mallorca Day. Show all posts
Friday, December 09, 2016
Sunday, September 11, 2016
The Legend And Meanings Of 12 September
Pilgrims from across Mallorca will have been arriving in Lluc from around seven this morning. The "pujada a Lluc a peu de la Part Forana" - the climb by foot to Lluc from the "foreign part" (anywhere but Palma) of Mallorca - coincides with the celebrations for Our Lady of Lluc on 12 September. It is a walk not to be confused with the one from Güell in Palma that takes place in August. The September pilgrimage has been going for an awful lot longer because of the celebrations for Our Lady. The Güell walk does, though, have some time significance in that 10 August is the date when, in 1884, the image of the Virgin and of the baby Jesus received official papal coronation.
The legend of the image - La Moreneta, the Black Madonna - is one of Mallorca's most famed legends. The story of the shepherd boy Lukas - Lluc in Catalan (not the reason why the place Lluc is called Lluc) - and the discovery of the statue has been told many, many times. That the discovery was made in or around 1250 lends itself to there being the legend. A tale from centuries ago (there was in fact no documented evidence of if until the fifteenth century), it is probably no more than a tale, though the existence of the original chapel or hermitage of the Virgin of Lluc - the product of the discovery of the image - is documented from roughly the same time: a procurator, Jaume de Marina, recorded the chapel in October 1268.
The pilgrimage nowadays benefits from decent enough roads. It's a slog - as suggested by the "pujada" - but at least the terrain is negotiable. What must it have been like in the thirteenth century? The current-day pilgrimage does at least retain the essence of what it was then and has remained - done on foot; donkeys also proved useful back in the day.
There is a coincidence where the date is concerned. Jaume II of Mallorca's coronation was on 12 September, 1276. This event was when he issued rights and privileges to the island, and it took place at the church of Santa Eulalia in Palma. Or was it a coincidence? The origin of the liturgical feast of Our Lady of Lluc being on 12 September appears uncertain, but it would appear that Jaume II - described as someone with intense Marian devotion (i.e. to the Virgin) - made clear this devotion during his coronation.
The point about this is that nowadays there is a distinction made when it comes to 12 September: a distinction between the secular and the religious, despite the fact that the two, historically, may well be bound together. The day of Mallorca, falling as it does on 12 September, is an invention of the late 1990s. The rationale was the coronation and the granting of privileges - the secular meaning of 12 September. It owes nothing to the religious, yet Our Lady of Lluc is Mallorca's patron saint.
The debate that is currently ongoing regarding Mallorca Day stems from the fact that not everyone is convinced that 12 September, 1276 is the epitome of "Mallorcaness". Alternative dates have been suggested, but nowhere in this debate do the religious and spiritual intrude. Swapping the justification for 12 September from the secular - the coronation - to the religious (the feast day) appears a non-starter.
For the political world (much of it anyway), it is important to be separate from the church. And there are very good and legitimate reasons why this should be. Some politicians, though, make a display of spurning religion and notable celebrations, even if they are rooted deeply in local traditions. The mayor of Pollensa, for instance, declined to attend the moving ceremony of Good Friday this year. He was within his rights to do so, but for all its religious symbolism it is also a symbol of tradition, anticipated as much by the faithful as it is by the non-believers. When it comes to the pilgrimage to Lluc (and the one in August), how many participants are genuinely religious? It isn't an imperative.
So, should there be a recognition of the dual meaning of 12 September and to therefore reinforce Mallorca Day? The politicians probably wouldn't allow it, but they might want to trace things back and see the origins of their secularism. They might also discover that it was 12 September in 1229 when the first main battle (Porto Pi) took place between Jaume I's forces and those of the occupying Muslims. Thus commenced the process for everything Catalan (secular and religious) that is present-day Mallorca.
The legend of the image - La Moreneta, the Black Madonna - is one of Mallorca's most famed legends. The story of the shepherd boy Lukas - Lluc in Catalan (not the reason why the place Lluc is called Lluc) - and the discovery of the statue has been told many, many times. That the discovery was made in or around 1250 lends itself to there being the legend. A tale from centuries ago (there was in fact no documented evidence of if until the fifteenth century), it is probably no more than a tale, though the existence of the original chapel or hermitage of the Virgin of Lluc - the product of the discovery of the image - is documented from roughly the same time: a procurator, Jaume de Marina, recorded the chapel in October 1268.
The pilgrimage nowadays benefits from decent enough roads. It's a slog - as suggested by the "pujada" - but at least the terrain is negotiable. What must it have been like in the thirteenth century? The current-day pilgrimage does at least retain the essence of what it was then and has remained - done on foot; donkeys also proved useful back in the day.
There is a coincidence where the date is concerned. Jaume II of Mallorca's coronation was on 12 September, 1276. This event was when he issued rights and privileges to the island, and it took place at the church of Santa Eulalia in Palma. Or was it a coincidence? The origin of the liturgical feast of Our Lady of Lluc being on 12 September appears uncertain, but it would appear that Jaume II - described as someone with intense Marian devotion (i.e. to the Virgin) - made clear this devotion during his coronation.
The point about this is that nowadays there is a distinction made when it comes to 12 September: a distinction between the secular and the religious, despite the fact that the two, historically, may well be bound together. The day of Mallorca, falling as it does on 12 September, is an invention of the late 1990s. The rationale was the coronation and the granting of privileges - the secular meaning of 12 September. It owes nothing to the religious, yet Our Lady of Lluc is Mallorca's patron saint.
The debate that is currently ongoing regarding Mallorca Day stems from the fact that not everyone is convinced that 12 September, 1276 is the epitome of "Mallorcaness". Alternative dates have been suggested, but nowhere in this debate do the religious and spiritual intrude. Swapping the justification for 12 September from the secular - the coronation - to the religious (the feast day) appears a non-starter.
For the political world (much of it anyway), it is important to be separate from the church. And there are very good and legitimate reasons why this should be. Some politicians, though, make a display of spurning religion and notable celebrations, even if they are rooted deeply in local traditions. The mayor of Pollensa, for instance, declined to attend the moving ceremony of Good Friday this year. He was within his rights to do so, but for all its religious symbolism it is also a symbol of tradition, anticipated as much by the faithful as it is by the non-believers. When it comes to the pilgrimage to Lluc (and the one in August), how many participants are genuinely religious? It isn't an imperative.
So, should there be a recognition of the dual meaning of 12 September and to therefore reinforce Mallorca Day? The politicians probably wouldn't allow it, but they might want to trace things back and see the origins of their secularism. They might also discover that it was 12 September in 1229 when the first main battle (Porto Pi) took place between Jaume I's forces and those of the occupying Muslims. Thus commenced the process for everything Catalan (secular and religious) that is present-day Mallorca.
Monday, September 07, 2015
Mallorca Days
9 September. That's the one I'd go for. Tourism Day 1965. It won't win of course. The first Tourism Day had been the year before but I can't find the exact date. It may have been the same, but it wouldn't make any difference. Either year and it was a day of the times of El Moustachio, so that rules it out straightaway. And celebrating tourism? You must be joking. Mallorca Day, in honour of tourists?
Another problem with my day is that it's too near the current one. Only three days shy in fact. 12 September is currently Mallorca Day, but the problem with this current day is that no one takes any notice of it and they never have done. One could now, via a reinterpretation of historic memory law, make a case for its abandonment on account of it having been a Maria invention: the Maria who is at present at His Majesty's Pleasure. 12 September was Munar Day, one conjured up by the government-in-parallel, Maria's Council of Mallorca. When you have your own mini-me government, you need your own "day" as well. Jaume II was crowned on that day, 739 years ago (721 ago years when the first Day occurred in 1997). The Kingdom of Mallorca was firmly established, certain rights were bestowed, so 12 September it was to be then.
As the new Council of Mallorca seeks to become its own government-in-parallel, Banbury's finest, Miquel Ensenyat, believes that the citizens should decide which day it should be. Given that the citizens appear to have been indifferent in the past, the chances are that participation in the planned referendum might just turn out to be a slight embarrassment. But you never know. Get a day for rejoicing by all Mallorcans, and they'll turn up at the polling stations and celebrate it like crazy for years to come.
The bookies' favourite would be 31 December. It is a date so obvious that it is worth being reminded why it isn't Mallorca Day. Firstly, it would seem that no one had really thought that such a day was necessary before Munar Day was announced. Secondly, it would clash with Palma's Festival of the Standard and thus become all a bit too Mallorcan, as in all of Mallorca and not just one chunk of it. Thirdly, most public institutions and thus politicians are on festive break, and they would have to be corralled into engaging in all the ceremonial palaver when they would prefer to already be half-cut before getting totally cut come midnight and choking on their twelve grapes.
And then fourthly, and most importantly, there's the nationalism thing.
As 31 December (1229) is the day when Jaume I finally took old Madina Mayurqa (aka Palma), put the Muslims to flight and started carving up the island's land for his mates, for Catalan nationalists, such as Miquel Ensenyat, and for many who are neither Catalan nor nationalists, 31 December appears a no-brainer. It was when Mallorca started: in a Catalan sense. There are probably, if one delves deeply enough, days from 123BC, the fifth century and 902AD when, respectively, the Romans began a-roaming, the Vandals came a-vandalising and the Muslims came an offshoot caliphating, that could also be suggested for a "Day", as in conquest and occupation, but then none of those spoke Catalan and all three were the bad guys.
Blindingly obvious though 31 December is, the Catalan nationalism thing is, for some (i.e. those to the right), just too Catalan. Jaume II and his coronation is far more acceptable to those of a purer Mallorcan nationalist tendency: typically, those more to the right.
If anyone can be bothered voting in this proposed referendum, the No to 1276 and Yes to 1229 Campaign should, you would think, win. There are, however, already other contenders. Some parts of PSOE seem to believe that 29 October, 1977 would get the locals excited. True, there was a demo on that day when some 20,000 called for autonomy (for both Mallorca and the Balearics). But given that there is a day for when Balearic autonomy was officially granted, i.e. 1 March, Balearics Day, then why would you need another one? And to be perfectly frank, Balearics Day is a holiday that doesn't inspire a great deal of passion either.
As they'd almost certainly reject my Tourism Day suggestion, let me make another one. When should Mallorca Day be? 12 September. Forget all about Jaume II (or Jaume I for that matter), 12 September is also the day of the Virgin of Lluc, when Mallorca's patron saint is honoured. For once, religion could have a compromise role.
Whatever dates make the shortlist though, I've a question. Do you reckon non-Spanish residents will get a chance to vote in the referendum? Miquel might just remember where he was from.
Another problem with my day is that it's too near the current one. Only three days shy in fact. 12 September is currently Mallorca Day, but the problem with this current day is that no one takes any notice of it and they never have done. One could now, via a reinterpretation of historic memory law, make a case for its abandonment on account of it having been a Maria invention: the Maria who is at present at His Majesty's Pleasure. 12 September was Munar Day, one conjured up by the government-in-parallel, Maria's Council of Mallorca. When you have your own mini-me government, you need your own "day" as well. Jaume II was crowned on that day, 739 years ago (721 ago years when the first Day occurred in 1997). The Kingdom of Mallorca was firmly established, certain rights were bestowed, so 12 September it was to be then.
As the new Council of Mallorca seeks to become its own government-in-parallel, Banbury's finest, Miquel Ensenyat, believes that the citizens should decide which day it should be. Given that the citizens appear to have been indifferent in the past, the chances are that participation in the planned referendum might just turn out to be a slight embarrassment. But you never know. Get a day for rejoicing by all Mallorcans, and they'll turn up at the polling stations and celebrate it like crazy for years to come.
The bookies' favourite would be 31 December. It is a date so obvious that it is worth being reminded why it isn't Mallorca Day. Firstly, it would seem that no one had really thought that such a day was necessary before Munar Day was announced. Secondly, it would clash with Palma's Festival of the Standard and thus become all a bit too Mallorcan, as in all of Mallorca and not just one chunk of it. Thirdly, most public institutions and thus politicians are on festive break, and they would have to be corralled into engaging in all the ceremonial palaver when they would prefer to already be half-cut before getting totally cut come midnight and choking on their twelve grapes.
And then fourthly, and most importantly, there's the nationalism thing.
As 31 December (1229) is the day when Jaume I finally took old Madina Mayurqa (aka Palma), put the Muslims to flight and started carving up the island's land for his mates, for Catalan nationalists, such as Miquel Ensenyat, and for many who are neither Catalan nor nationalists, 31 December appears a no-brainer. It was when Mallorca started: in a Catalan sense. There are probably, if one delves deeply enough, days from 123BC, the fifth century and 902AD when, respectively, the Romans began a-roaming, the Vandals came a-vandalising and the Muslims came an offshoot caliphating, that could also be suggested for a "Day", as in conquest and occupation, but then none of those spoke Catalan and all three were the bad guys.
Blindingly obvious though 31 December is, the Catalan nationalism thing is, for some (i.e. those to the right), just too Catalan. Jaume II and his coronation is far more acceptable to those of a purer Mallorcan nationalist tendency: typically, those more to the right.
If anyone can be bothered voting in this proposed referendum, the No to 1276 and Yes to 1229 Campaign should, you would think, win. There are, however, already other contenders. Some parts of PSOE seem to believe that 29 October, 1977 would get the locals excited. True, there was a demo on that day when some 20,000 called for autonomy (for both Mallorca and the Balearics). But given that there is a day for when Balearic autonomy was officially granted, i.e. 1 March, Balearics Day, then why would you need another one? And to be perfectly frank, Balearics Day is a holiday that doesn't inspire a great deal of passion either.
As they'd almost certainly reject my Tourism Day suggestion, let me make another one. When should Mallorca Day be? 12 September. Forget all about Jaume II (or Jaume I for that matter), 12 September is also the day of the Virgin of Lluc, when Mallorca's patron saint is honoured. For once, religion could have a compromise role.
Whatever dates make the shortlist though, I've a question. Do you reckon non-Spanish residents will get a chance to vote in the referendum? Miquel might just remember where he was from.
Sunday, September 07, 2014
Mallorca Day Or The Day Of Our Lady Of Lluc
There hadn't been a Mallorca Day until 1997. It was a celebration which, so the critics say, was "invented", and the person who invented it was the then president of the Council of Mallorca, Maria Antonia Munar. The Council still states that 12 September was chosen because it "created our personality as a people and as a community that is rooted in a rich and unique past". The problem with the choice of 12 September was, and it remains a date that is contentious with many, that it neglected the counter claim of a different date, i.e. 31 December. On that day in 1229, Jaume I took the city of Palma, and the conquest of Mallorca by the Catalan and Aragon forces was all but complete. It is a day which has its own celebration, the Fiesta of the Standard, and if there is to be a Mallorca Day, 31 December is the day that many would prefer.
There is, inevitably, a large chunk of politics behind all this. The 1276 date can be taken as the day when a Mallorcan nationalism was born. It is thus a date which appeals to certain nationalist elements and also to elements on the right. The 1229 date, on the other hand, appeals to a different type of nationalist, the one who considers Mallorca to be a product of Catalanism and part of the somewhat mythical Catalan Lands, and to a more general acknowledgement that 31 December, 1229 was the date when the Islam occupation of Mallorca ended and the island's Catalan culture started.
If you are expecting there to be huge celebrations this coming Friday, you will be disappointed. In Palma there will be the laying of a floral tribute at the tomb of Jaume II at the Cathedral. There will also be a dance by giants in front of the Council's building. Otherwise, there will be open days (which are more like open few hours in most instances) at the Council itself, at three museums and at the Raixa finca in Bunyola, while in the evening there will be an awards ceremony at Palma's Teatre Principal. On Saturday and Sunday, there will be other similar events, but generally speaking the celebrations are low-key.
On the night of next Saturday (13 September), there is another event which loosely forms part of the extended Mallorca Day celebrations. It is the walk to Lluc by people from towns and villages across Mallorca, the "Pujada a Lluc a peu de la Part Forana", which, for most participants, will involve setting off from Inca at 4am on the morning of the fourteenth of September. The date for the walk does vary, so that it can fall during a weekend, but 12 September holds the key as to why it occurs.
This Friday is the fiesta of the Mother of God of Lluc. 12 September, therefore, has a significance for the people of Mallorca which is very different to that of Jaume II and the founding of the kingdom. Lluc is the spiritual centre of the island, and the image of the Virgin Mary, "La Moreneta" or the Black Madonna, is about as revered as religious icons can get on the island. There is, naturally enough, a whole legend that surrounds the statue. Around the year 1250, so the story goes, a boy called Lluc (aka Lucas, aka Luke), who was the son of Muslims who had converted to Catholicism, was attracted by a light when out tending his father's goat and sheep herds. The boy found a statue and handed it in to the local priest who placed it in the then small church. The statue wasn't having any of this, though, and mysteriously found its way back to where it had been found. This was taken as a sign that the Virgin preferred to stay where she had been, and so, respecting her wishes, they built what was to become the monastery.
Though of course only an item of iconography, albeit an important one, the Madonna assumed such significance that Our Lady of Lluc, the Virgin of Lluc, became Mallorca's patron saint. And she still is.
As for the arguments surrounding Mallorca Day, if it was ever going to have been 12 September, then perhaps there was a less contentious reason for it being so. And it resides in Lluc's monastery.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
The Day Today (Or Another Day)
Here's today's quiz question for you? When is Mallorca Day?
Does today's date give you a clue? Well, yes it does, but there again it doesn't. Mallorca Day is today, according to some, but it is also and officially, 12 September. Confused? You've every right to be, as the great debate as to which day should be Mallorca Day is bound up in the mists of time and in the arguments of claimants to both dates.
12 September, in case you are wondering, celebrates the day, in 1276, when King Jaume II took the oath of the granting of the privilege of the Kingdom of Mallorca. If there is to be a Mallorca Day at all, and there has been only since 1997 when the Council of Mallorca decided that 12 September it was to be, this seems a reasonable enough excuse. You might think so, but others would disagree.
Forty-seven years before the oath, Jaume II's father, Jaume I, the Aragon king who came to the rescue of Mallorca, landed at Santa Ponsa on 31 December on his mission (successful, as it was to prove) to drive the forces of Islam from the island. Mallorca Day, therefore, is not 12 September but unofficially 31 December.
Who says so? Primarily, it is various Catalanists, independentists and left-wingers who say so, and you can chuck in some historians, who may or may not be one or all of these things, as well. Were you minded to go searching for information about Mallorca Day on the internet, you would find a website called diadademallorca.cat, which might suggest that it was the official site for the day, except of course it isn't. The domain suffix of "cat" gives the game away, as it is one used predominantly for sites dedicated to Catalan culture and language.
The website does in fact add a bit more confusion to the debate, as 30 December comes into the equation too, so much so that yesterday there was the "traditional demonstration of the Day of Mallorca" in Palma, one of a series of events that start in the middle of December all in aid of the "fiesta of the standard" (which is in fact today) and the parading of Jaume I's Royal Standard.
These events, in different towns across Mallorca, are all run by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), the most prominent of the organisations on the island that defends and promotes Catalan culture and language. It is not alone, though, in wishing to change the date of Mallorca Day. The PSM Mallorcan socialists, together with their allies in the general left-wing Bloc, have proposed that Palma town hall adopts 31 December as the official date and gets the Council of Mallorca to make the change.
There is, in the PSM's stance, a touch of good old nationalist rival politics at play. The PSM, nationalists with a left persuasion, take issue with the "imposition" of 12 September back in 1997 by the Council of Mallorca whose then president was Maria Antònia Munar, she of the now defunct nationalists with a right persuasion, the Unió Mallorquina.
This might all seem like a pedantic argument, but historical correctness does have a habit of generating dogmatic attitudes, and such dogma can sometimes become unpleasant.
Last year the object of this unpleasantness was the headquarters building of the OCB anti-Christ, the Círculo Balear, the dogmatically anti-Catalan organisation. It was daubed with graffiti and, true to form, it has been again. What particularly riled Catalanist elements was the decision to the Círculo to take part in the Standard celebration on 31 December, a day very much of Catalanist expression. There was also violence at the 30 December demonstration; four "independentists" who were arrested last year had vowed to return this year.
A question worth asking is whether there is a genuine ground swell of nationalism and desire for independence that the argument over Mallorca Day, the demonstration and the graffiti might suggest. Or is it confined to a vocal but active minority (and there were a mere 1500 demonstrators yesterday evening)? One is inclined to believe that it is the latter, but this year's alternative Mallorca Day has to be considered in the context of moves by the Partido Popular government to promote Castilian over Catalan, moves that don't find universal support and not even within the party itself.
Despite the dogma, there is a very good reason why, assuming there should be a Mallorca Day at all, 31 December should be the date. 1229 was in effect when Mallorca's history began, in the sense that its current-day culture started to be shaped. Prior to then, and most significantly, there was no Catalan language. It took the conquest by an Aragonese king to supplant what was then a version of Latin. 1229 and all that asks questions of current-day attitudes on the right. To deny its significance is historically incorrect, but to accept its significance is to undermine arguments against Catalan.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for December 2011
Almond growing, decline in Mallorca's - 6 December 2011
Artisans and authenticity - 9 December 2011
BAFMAs: Mallorcan achievement awards - 15 December 2011
Bars and restaurants to offer other services - 23 December 2011
Campanet, town hall problems in - 5 December 2011
Can Domenech and Can Llobera - 20 December 2011
Castilian and Catalan for town and street names - 29 December 2011
Christmas diary, Leonora Madd's Mallorcan - 25 December 2011, 26 December 2011
Christmas spending - 14 December 2011
Cruise ships and environment - 7 December 2011
Fascinating people in Mallorca - 4 December 2011
French tourism and promotional messages - 17 December 2011
Holiday lets: government gets tough - 3 December 2011
Hotels, modernisation and internet - 11 December 2011
Mallorca Day arguments - 31 December 2011
Mancomunidades, Mallorca's - 30 December 2011
Microsoft and film tourism - 10 December 2011
Oil exploration off the Balearics - 16 December 2011
President Bauzá and party differences - 2 December 2011
PSOE and PP divisions and challenges - 18 December 2011
Rural tourism - 27 December 2011
Sand on beaches, loss of - 28 December 2011
Thomas Cook and African risks - 19 December 2011
Thomson's holiday advert - 1 December 2011
Tourism law reform - 8 December 2011, 13 December 2011
Tourism minister and secretary, new national - 24 December 2011
Tourist tax - 22 December 2011
Trinidad, Mallorca and - 21 December 2011
TV Mallorca, fairs and musicians - 12 December 2011
Does today's date give you a clue? Well, yes it does, but there again it doesn't. Mallorca Day is today, according to some, but it is also and officially, 12 September. Confused? You've every right to be, as the great debate as to which day should be Mallorca Day is bound up in the mists of time and in the arguments of claimants to both dates.
12 September, in case you are wondering, celebrates the day, in 1276, when King Jaume II took the oath of the granting of the privilege of the Kingdom of Mallorca. If there is to be a Mallorca Day at all, and there has been only since 1997 when the Council of Mallorca decided that 12 September it was to be, this seems a reasonable enough excuse. You might think so, but others would disagree.
Forty-seven years before the oath, Jaume II's father, Jaume I, the Aragon king who came to the rescue of Mallorca, landed at Santa Ponsa on 31 December on his mission (successful, as it was to prove) to drive the forces of Islam from the island. Mallorca Day, therefore, is not 12 September but unofficially 31 December.
Who says so? Primarily, it is various Catalanists, independentists and left-wingers who say so, and you can chuck in some historians, who may or may not be one or all of these things, as well. Were you minded to go searching for information about Mallorca Day on the internet, you would find a website called diadademallorca.cat, which might suggest that it was the official site for the day, except of course it isn't. The domain suffix of "cat" gives the game away, as it is one used predominantly for sites dedicated to Catalan culture and language.
The website does in fact add a bit more confusion to the debate, as 30 December comes into the equation too, so much so that yesterday there was the "traditional demonstration of the Day of Mallorca" in Palma, one of a series of events that start in the middle of December all in aid of the "fiesta of the standard" (which is in fact today) and the parading of Jaume I's Royal Standard.
These events, in different towns across Mallorca, are all run by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), the most prominent of the organisations on the island that defends and promotes Catalan culture and language. It is not alone, though, in wishing to change the date of Mallorca Day. The PSM Mallorcan socialists, together with their allies in the general left-wing Bloc, have proposed that Palma town hall adopts 31 December as the official date and gets the Council of Mallorca to make the change.
There is, in the PSM's stance, a touch of good old nationalist rival politics at play. The PSM, nationalists with a left persuasion, take issue with the "imposition" of 12 September back in 1997 by the Council of Mallorca whose then president was Maria Antònia Munar, she of the now defunct nationalists with a right persuasion, the Unió Mallorquina.
This might all seem like a pedantic argument, but historical correctness does have a habit of generating dogmatic attitudes, and such dogma can sometimes become unpleasant.
Last year the object of this unpleasantness was the headquarters building of the OCB anti-Christ, the Círculo Balear, the dogmatically anti-Catalan organisation. It was daubed with graffiti and, true to form, it has been again. What particularly riled Catalanist elements was the decision to the Círculo to take part in the Standard celebration on 31 December, a day very much of Catalanist expression. There was also violence at the 30 December demonstration; four "independentists" who were arrested last year had vowed to return this year.
A question worth asking is whether there is a genuine ground swell of nationalism and desire for independence that the argument over Mallorca Day, the demonstration and the graffiti might suggest. Or is it confined to a vocal but active minority (and there were a mere 1500 demonstrators yesterday evening)? One is inclined to believe that it is the latter, but this year's alternative Mallorca Day has to be considered in the context of moves by the Partido Popular government to promote Castilian over Catalan, moves that don't find universal support and not even within the party itself.
Despite the dogma, there is a very good reason why, assuming there should be a Mallorca Day at all, 31 December should be the date. 1229 was in effect when Mallorca's history began, in the sense that its current-day culture started to be shaped. Prior to then, and most significantly, there was no Catalan language. It took the conquest by an Aragonese king to supplant what was then a version of Latin. 1229 and all that asks questions of current-day attitudes on the right. To deny its significance is historically incorrect, but to accept its significance is to undermine arguments against Catalan.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for December 2011
Almond growing, decline in Mallorca's - 6 December 2011
Artisans and authenticity - 9 December 2011
BAFMAs: Mallorcan achievement awards - 15 December 2011
Bars and restaurants to offer other services - 23 December 2011
Campanet, town hall problems in - 5 December 2011
Can Domenech and Can Llobera - 20 December 2011
Castilian and Catalan for town and street names - 29 December 2011
Christmas diary, Leonora Madd's Mallorcan - 25 December 2011, 26 December 2011
Christmas spending - 14 December 2011
Cruise ships and environment - 7 December 2011
Fascinating people in Mallorca - 4 December 2011
French tourism and promotional messages - 17 December 2011
Holiday lets: government gets tough - 3 December 2011
Hotels, modernisation and internet - 11 December 2011
Mallorca Day arguments - 31 December 2011
Mancomunidades, Mallorca's - 30 December 2011
Microsoft and film tourism - 10 December 2011
Oil exploration off the Balearics - 16 December 2011
President Bauzá and party differences - 2 December 2011
PSOE and PP divisions and challenges - 18 December 2011
Rural tourism - 27 December 2011
Sand on beaches, loss of - 28 December 2011
Thomas Cook and African risks - 19 December 2011
Thomson's holiday advert - 1 December 2011
Tourism law reform - 8 December 2011, 13 December 2011
Tourism minister and secretary, new national - 24 December 2011
Tourist tax - 22 December 2011
Trinidad, Mallorca and - 21 December 2011
TV Mallorca, fairs and musicians - 12 December 2011
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Give Us This Day
Today is? The day it normally rains gatos y perros in September? The day England go out of the European Championships? The day to celebrate Mallorca?
At the moment, there is no sign of the 12th September storm, and one can but hope that England don’t screw up. The only certainty therefore is that today is Mallorca Day, except no-one seems to know much about it. As it is one of the few “days” that doesn’t require most things to close down, and is therefore not a holiday, then it is likely to simply pass people by. Last year they tried to give the “day” a boost by giving out free flags. This year there is no such gesture. Moreover, there seems to be a lack of understanding as to what the “day” is all about. It is in fact a commemoration of 12th September 1276 when the then kingdom of Mallorca was granted a form of constitution. So, now you know.
Meanwhile, the Andratx case, now back in full investigative swing, has added an unlikely person to the list of those being investigated. Selina Scott, remember her? Allegedly there is some “irregularity”.
Yet more on Crocs. I was at the Miramar clinic in Palma today for a scan. Lasers, and all manner of electrical stuff flying around. Well, it didn’t break down or seem to be interefered with. No evidence of any static electricity gumming up the works. The bloke who was doing it had a really nice pair of blue Crocs.
And on a sort of personal note. Anyone who has read the profile thing that comes with this blog will have seen my mention of Weather Report. Joe Zawinul, the keyboard-player with the band (and prior to that with Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis) died yesterday. Ah well.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Nirvana of course. Today. Rather than a title question. Weather Report was essentially two musicians. Zawinul and which sax player?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
At the moment, there is no sign of the 12th September storm, and one can but hope that England don’t screw up. The only certainty therefore is that today is Mallorca Day, except no-one seems to know much about it. As it is one of the few “days” that doesn’t require most things to close down, and is therefore not a holiday, then it is likely to simply pass people by. Last year they tried to give the “day” a boost by giving out free flags. This year there is no such gesture. Moreover, there seems to be a lack of understanding as to what the “day” is all about. It is in fact a commemoration of 12th September 1276 when the then kingdom of Mallorca was granted a form of constitution. So, now you know.
Meanwhile, the Andratx case, now back in full investigative swing, has added an unlikely person to the list of those being investigated. Selina Scott, remember her? Allegedly there is some “irregularity”.
Yet more on Crocs. I was at the Miramar clinic in Palma today for a scan. Lasers, and all manner of electrical stuff flying around. Well, it didn’t break down or seem to be interefered with. No evidence of any static electricity gumming up the works. The bloke who was doing it had a really nice pair of blue Crocs.
And on a sort of personal note. Anyone who has read the profile thing that comes with this blog will have seen my mention of Weather Report. Joe Zawinul, the keyboard-player with the band (and prior to that with Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis) died yesterday. Ah well.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Nirvana of course. Today. Rather than a title question. Weather Report was essentially two musicians. Zawinul and which sax player?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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