Remember November 2001? If not, let me remind you. There was freak cold weather in the middle of the month and there was also the hurricane. The weather caused havoc with the island's most important fair.
Weather can occur at any time. Inca's Dijous Bo wasn't a complete victim as some of it was held indoors. But a fair is there to be held outdoors, unless the weather gods decree otherwise. Which they did in 2001. The fair, most of it therefore, was cancelled. Some events are just too complex for them to be rearranged.
The recent bad weather has created havoc with fiesta scheduling, but it is possible to push much of it to a later date. Something that wasn't postponed was the big Palma night out for Sant Sebastià, but the weather was hardly conducive to creating the type of party that was hoped for. As a consequence, there is talk of holding Sant Sebastià at some other time of the year.
The councillor for youth affairs, Aligi Molina, has said the proposal for a date change is "most interesting". It may well be most interesting, but the general reaction is leave well alone, with the mayor, José Hila, to the fore in insisting that there should be no change.
Hila has had his run-ins with Som Palma (Podemos) before over fiesta scheduling. Last summer, Eva Frade (citizen participation) said that all of the Christmas/New Year occasions traditionally held in the Plaça Cort would be moved because of building work. Oh not, they won't, said the "pact", i.e. the mayor. In the end, Eva got her way, and only the Standard festival survived.
It is therefore notable that Hila should react as quickly and as assertively as he has in heading off any further Som Palma claim on fiestas. Sant Sebastià, he said, is a winter fiesta. The town hall can't do anything about the weather. At no time has the administration planned a move for the fiestas. That's the whole administration, he was implying, including Molina.
It might be tempting, given the Podemos philosophy, to think that shifting Sant Sebastià would be an example of thumbing a nose at religion and the church. Tempting, though probably not accurate. Or it may be a case of if something is fixed (as in the date), then break it, which might also be in line with Podemos radicialism. No, not even that. Rather, it's all a question of the weather.
There are dates which aren't fixed. Easter is the most obviously movable feast, and its movement means that other celebrations have to move likewise: Carnival, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi. This doesn't particularly help when it comes to scheduling, not least for tour operators, who would probably welcome the the pope fixing the date for Easter, as he has suggested he might. But everyone's been dealing with its movability for eons and has got used to therefore never being certain when Carnival is.
Everyone has also got used to fiestas taking place on the same day (or more or less the same day with some fiestas). And Sant Sebastià is one of them. Given that he officially became Palma's patron back in the 1600s and was supposedly and finally killed on the orders of Diocletian on 20 January 287, there isn't a great deal that can be done about the date.
But the problem has long been, therefore, that Palma doesn't have a summer fiesta. There are fiestas in different parts of the city, but notwithstanding the night of fire for Sant Joan in midsummer and the lame attempt at celebrating the Virgin Mary's birth in September, there isn't a summer spectacular.
No one has as yet made a firm proposal of an alternative and later date for Sebastià, and it's highly unlikely that if anyone did, it would be followed up. But a further reason, other than just the weather, has been put forward for a move, and this has to do with Sant Antoni. It is thought in some quarters that there is confusion because they are only three days apart and that aspects of Antoni have entered Sebastià, such as the demons.
While it's true that the two can seem to merge into one and so it isn't entirely certain which saint a particular bonfire might be for, it is a bit of an overstatement to say there's confusion. After all, the two saints have been at it for centuries. As for the demons, they are an Antoni legacy which is shared by all manner of fiestas, and not only Sebastià. The argument isn't strong.
But a big summer fiesta for the Virgin Mary, well that's a suggestion that should be considered. It would be a fiesta in addition not instead. Summer and winter, and winter, as in January, is where Sebastià belongs, as does Antoni.
Showing posts with label Sant Sebastià. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sant Sebastià. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Monday, February 02, 2015
Yes, We Have No Plan
Look at any website for a town hall in Mallorca and you will find that they all have a councillor who is responsible for fiestas. This is not a sole responsibility, but responsibility there nevertheless is. Fiestas (and indeed fairs) represent one of the strongest statements as to what a town (or parts of towns) is all about. It is local culture in the form of a party. It would be odd were there not a councillor who was charged with looking after this culture.
The demands placed on such a councillor will vary enormously depending on the size of any given municipality, but even in the smaller towns there is more to it than simply ensuring that the pipers turn up at the appointed time (preferably with their pipes) and that DJ Deejay has remembered his USB sticks that will whisk the partygoers back to the good old days of the 1980s. The fiesta needs organising. It needs planning. The plan may not vary greatly from year to year, but that doesn't mean it can be neglected.
Palma town hall has admitted that it doesn't have a plan for fiestas. It is an extraordinary admission. If there is one municipality on Mallorca you would think would most definitely have a plan - and a pretty detailed one, too - then Palma would be that municipality. Alas, it does not.
The confession that there is no plan has come in the aftermath of what, by general consensus, was the worst Sant Sebastià fiesta since it was given its current-day look at the end of the 1970s. Even the town hall seems to accept that the 2015 edition was a bit of a washout. It wasn't only attributable to the weather; the music events for the "revetla", the grand party for the eve of Sant Sebastià, reached an all-time low.
Perhaps even more extraordinary is that Esperanza Crespí, the councillor for citizen participation, has not only admitted that there is no plan she has also accepted, amidst apologies for this year's fiesta, that a proposal from the PSOE opposition last year for there to be a plan was not followed up. She has said that she didn't know what PSOE was suggesting but would have liked to have done. Maybe she should have asked them for more detail then.
That Esperanza even has responsibility for fiestas might seem a little surprising. She heads an area within the council that combines citizen participation with commerce, work and youth. Fiestas fall somewhere within this lot. Forget what I was saying about fiestas and local culture. Palma has a councillor for culture and sport who doesn't have responsibility for fiestas.
It is possible, therefore, that this is part of the problem. Fiestas, in the grand scheme of things in a city which has as much on its plate as Palma does, are far from being a number-one priority and so may fall down some black hole of organisational structure. Or they may be assigned wrongly; if not the councillor for culture and sports, then maybe the one for tourism and what is called municipal co-ordination should take care of fiestas.
Wearing her participation hat, Esperanza has said that the time may have come for the town hall to sit down with residents, business associations and others and discuss fiestas. Yes, it probably is time and probably should have been happening anyway: principles of participation appear to be developed slowly in Palma.
To make matters worse, the Més grouping at the town hall has been calling for Esperanza's head because other fiesta activities have been prohibited - three demons' fire-runs, for instance, one of them in Son Sardina. And then there was all the fuss over the town hall's apparent indifference to this year's alternative Sant Sebastià fiesta, Sant Kanut. Despite the fact that Kanut is not an official fiesta, the town hall now seems to accept that they got things terribly wrong. Citizens participating in staging their own fiestas has rapidly become an accepted wisdom at the council; Kanut will happen next year and do so over three days. Sounds like a plan.
The sadness is of course that Sant Sebastià should be a major event in the Mallorcan calendar and should be promoted more strongly. The need for promotion on an international level was accepted some years ago at the time when a version of ELO and Echo and the Bunnymen were coming to Palma. Crisis took over, but critics of the town hall say that it is no longer enough to just blame a cut to financing for the fiesta having gone into decline. Meanwhile, one wonders what all the sponsors of Palma 365 make of the situation. In terms of winter promotion of the city, it doesn't get much better than a dazzling fiesta in January. Time to get planning.
The demands placed on such a councillor will vary enormously depending on the size of any given municipality, but even in the smaller towns there is more to it than simply ensuring that the pipers turn up at the appointed time (preferably with their pipes) and that DJ Deejay has remembered his USB sticks that will whisk the partygoers back to the good old days of the 1980s. The fiesta needs organising. It needs planning. The plan may not vary greatly from year to year, but that doesn't mean it can be neglected.
Palma town hall has admitted that it doesn't have a plan for fiestas. It is an extraordinary admission. If there is one municipality on Mallorca you would think would most definitely have a plan - and a pretty detailed one, too - then Palma would be that municipality. Alas, it does not.
The confession that there is no plan has come in the aftermath of what, by general consensus, was the worst Sant Sebastià fiesta since it was given its current-day look at the end of the 1970s. Even the town hall seems to accept that the 2015 edition was a bit of a washout. It wasn't only attributable to the weather; the music events for the "revetla", the grand party for the eve of Sant Sebastià, reached an all-time low.
Perhaps even more extraordinary is that Esperanza Crespí, the councillor for citizen participation, has not only admitted that there is no plan she has also accepted, amidst apologies for this year's fiesta, that a proposal from the PSOE opposition last year for there to be a plan was not followed up. She has said that she didn't know what PSOE was suggesting but would have liked to have done. Maybe she should have asked them for more detail then.
That Esperanza even has responsibility for fiestas might seem a little surprising. She heads an area within the council that combines citizen participation with commerce, work and youth. Fiestas fall somewhere within this lot. Forget what I was saying about fiestas and local culture. Palma has a councillor for culture and sport who doesn't have responsibility for fiestas.
It is possible, therefore, that this is part of the problem. Fiestas, in the grand scheme of things in a city which has as much on its plate as Palma does, are far from being a number-one priority and so may fall down some black hole of organisational structure. Or they may be assigned wrongly; if not the councillor for culture and sports, then maybe the one for tourism and what is called municipal co-ordination should take care of fiestas.
Wearing her participation hat, Esperanza has said that the time may have come for the town hall to sit down with residents, business associations and others and discuss fiestas. Yes, it probably is time and probably should have been happening anyway: principles of participation appear to be developed slowly in Palma.
To make matters worse, the Més grouping at the town hall has been calling for Esperanza's head because other fiesta activities have been prohibited - three demons' fire-runs, for instance, one of them in Son Sardina. And then there was all the fuss over the town hall's apparent indifference to this year's alternative Sant Sebastià fiesta, Sant Kanut. Despite the fact that Kanut is not an official fiesta, the town hall now seems to accept that they got things terribly wrong. Citizens participating in staging their own fiestas has rapidly become an accepted wisdom at the council; Kanut will happen next year and do so over three days. Sounds like a plan.
The sadness is of course that Sant Sebastià should be a major event in the Mallorcan calendar and should be promoted more strongly. The need for promotion on an international level was accepted some years ago at the time when a version of ELO and Echo and the Bunnymen were coming to Palma. Crisis took over, but critics of the town hall say that it is no longer enough to just blame a cut to financing for the fiesta having gone into decline. Meanwhile, one wonders what all the sponsors of Palma 365 make of the situation. In terms of winter promotion of the city, it doesn't get much better than a dazzling fiesta in January. Time to get planning.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
The Alternative Fiesta Of Saint Canute
As such therefore, Sebastian celebrations with fire and demons owe nothing whatsoever to the one-time French soldier who had a fateful run-in with the highly unpleasant Roman emperor Diocletian. They owe pretty much everything to old Antoni and to his hallucinations of and temptations by devils in his hermitic cave in the Egyptian desert and, quite probably, the occasional bonfire to keep him warm on cold desert nights.
The Sebastian fiestas in Palma do in fact pre-date the appearance of the bone in 1523 in the sense that his feast day had been celebrated prior to then. It wasn't, however, until he was named patron saint, in 1634, that things in a Sebastian style really took off. Not that things were like they are now. Indeed, it was only fairly recently - 1977 - that the "revetla" (eve) partying entered the fiesta equation, which was roughly the same time as fire-wielding demons of the current-day "correfoc" variety emerged; they having featured for the first time during Barcelona's La Mercè fiesta.
So, Sebastian, as we now know it, isn't all that traditional, which doesn't of course stop it being referred to as traditional, just as a parallel fiesta which coincides with Sebastian is also deemed to be traditional. This is the alternative fiesta of Sant Canut (also written as Kanut), which has been going in Palma since 1994 and which has occurred on the same "revetla" eve. As the name suggests, there is a distinct Danish connection with this fiesta. St. Knut's Day, which oddly enough isn't officially celebrated in Denmark but is in Sweden, Norway and Finland, takes its name from Knut Levard, a Danish duke of the twelfth century who was declared a saint in the aftermath of his assassination. He isn't the same Canute as the one of turning-back-the-tides fame. He was his nephew. The King Canute we are familiar with was also a saint and though his day is in July, St. Knut's Day has come to be a combination of saintly uncle and nephew.
All of which may be very interesting, but it fails to explain what the day (which is in fact 13 January) has to do with Palma. St. Knut isn't on the Catholic calendar for 13 January; Saint Hilary is. It is a day which only has meaning in Scandinavia. However, and this does rather help to explain the alternative nature of Sant Canut, the word "canuto" in Spanish (or "canut" in Catalan) has a specific meaning. It is a joint, as in a cannabis joint.
Being a saint, sort of, Sant Canut comes in the form of an image to be carried by the faithful. Dressed in a white, druidic gown with very long black hair, he holds an oversized joint; a very oversized joint. He was, until recently, taken to the Ses Voltes park where he was joined by all manner of bands (similar therefore to the mix of music that the Sebastià revetla has). But, because the numbers were getting too great, he was shifted to the Parc del Mar last year, but only at the last minute. It looked as though Sant Canut was going to have to be cancelled in 2014, and history is repeating itself in 2015. At the time of writing, it would appear that, despite a hope that a location in the Sa Riera park could be found, the organisers gave thrown in the towel and that Sant Canut will not happen.
There has been much criticism of Palma town hall in recent years, suggesting that it has looked to place obstacles to stop Sant Canut happening; it isn't an official town hall event. The town hall, for its part, points merely to safety issues with overcrowding, but there is a further factor, which is that, regardless of claims of "tradition" for something that has been happening for only twenty years, Sant Canut is not a tradition where the town hall is concerned, as it doesn't form part of Mallorcan culture.
Nevertheless, there should be a place for the alternative, but as things stand, tomorrow evening Sant Canut, oversized joint and all, will not live on.
* An announcement was made later today that the fiesta would take place not in Palma but in Santa Maria del Cami at the art and music centre Cases de Son Llaüt used by the association Factoria de So.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
How Old Is Tradition? Saint Sebastian
I have delved into my archives to look at what I have written about Sebastian in the past, and in 2009 I considered what "Ultima Hora" had to say about the Palma event. It was critical. It had a go at the organisers for not knowing what the people of Palma wanted and at the lack of international music acts and indeed at the preponderance of local acts to the exclusion of performers from the mainland.
The criticism was valid up to a point. In 2008, the music night had featured, among the acts on the nine stages, two British bands - ELO Part II and Echo and the Bunnymen. But then that was 2008. A year later, and things were different; financially different. Though crisis was starting to have an effect, there was still an expectation that Sebastian would be an aspiring international event which featured foreign acts and could therefore be increasingly marketable overseas.
After the 2008 event, the then councillor for culture at Palma town hall, Eberhard Grosske, said that he felt the time was right to re-think the fiesta. He also said that there needed to be greater promotional effort to attract foreign tourists. However, the re-thinking that was done was determined as much by finances as by fiesta content. Grosske's desire to see more promotion was lost in the need to scale back. Or this was how it seemed.
The presence of international acts on the music night added kudos, but for the 2008 event questions arose. One was to do with how much importance should have been placed on having international artists. Having one or two big (or biggish) names was never likely to attract a great deal of foreign interest. The fiesta would have required several more to have been able to do so, something that was never going to have happened.
A second question was more fundamental. What actually was being promoted anyway? Was it a music festival or was it a traditional fiesta? The answer would probably have been both, but herein lay a problem. Put contemporary and traditional together, and the promotional message becomes blurred. Most fiestas are a mix of the two, but their inherent appeal lies more with the tradition than with the new. Or does it, because there is a further question. What is the tradition?
The origins of the Sebastian story, in case you are not familiar with them, lie with events of 1523, when a bone of Saint Sebastian was brought to Palma by an archdeacon named Manuel Suriavisqui. It was a miracle bone which brought an end to a bad dose of the plague from which Palma had been suffering and which helped to eventually elevate Sebastian to the role of patron saint of the city.
Though 1523 is usually taken as the start of the Sebastian story, the celebration of Sebastian's feast had been taking place for some time before this. In 1451, for example, the Aloy bell at the Cathedral was rung to mark the solemn occasion. The patronage of Sebastian for his own chapel was awarded five years before the bone miracle, so Sebastian was firmly established in Palma before the archdeacon from San Juan de Colachi in Rhodes appeared with the healing part of the saint's body.
There have been various milestones in the Palma-Sebastian story over the centuries. It was 1634 when he was named patron saint, and there has been a fiesta ever since. In 1711, the chapel was destroyed by lightning and it took until 1757 for a new image of the saint to be brought from Rome. But coming much closer to the present day, it wasn't until 1977 that the celebration of Sebastian took on its current form. It was the folkloricist Bartomeu Ensenyat, who was known mainly for his promotion of Mallorcan dance, who proposed an "eve" (the "revetla"). And so this started in the Plaça Major and grew and grew to embrace the various other squares that it now does with its numerous musical acts. So, when we talk of the tradition of Sebastian in Palma and the newer, more contemporary aspect, i.e. the music night, this is less than 40 years old, which is not really long enough, you would think, to constitute a tradition, unlike the genuinely traditional, such as the demons and the "correfoc" fire-run.
But in fact, this isn't right. The two "traditions" are of more or less the same vintage. The correfoc is not even 40 years old itself. Demons have been around for centuries in Catalan culture, but it wasn't until La Mercè, Barcelona's major fiesta, revived the whole demons' tradition in the 1970s and also introduced the correfoc that this particular tradition took off and found its way over to Palma.
Sebastian is a grand fiesta, but in purely traditional terms, it isn't particularly traditional, unless, that is, one accepts that tradition can be 40 years old or less.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Keep The Home Fires Burning
Around this time of the year, in the spirit of the traditions of January's fiestas, I uphold my own tradition, one that I share with others. It is the tradition of asking why on earth more is not made of these fiestas. I think I might have the answer. They - the great, anonymous "they" of tourism promotion - don't want to make more of them. They want them for themselves.
This, at least, is the conclusion you have to draw. And as with the fiestas, so also anything else that occurs. Take the Winter in Mallorca programme. I popped into my local, friendly tourist office the other day. Did they have a copy of the January programme? Not as such. None had been delivered, as indeed none had been delivered in December. Notwithstanding the fact that a call to whoever "they" are to ask if some might be delivered seemed not to have been considered, for a tourist office that happens to be open to be overlooked during the distribution run says much for a - how to put it - uncoordinated approach to information dissemination.
And it's not much better on the internet, a medium which, in these times of spondoolex shortage, offers the advantage of not having to cough up for Mallorca's overpriced print bills. "Infomallorca.net" was volunteered as a source of information for the Winter in Mallorca programme. Sorry, but it isn't. One thing it has is a calendar of "touristic agenda". What does this have? Well, nothing about the fiestas for starters. And nothing about the programme either. Helpfully it does let us know that there are weekly markets in Valldemossa and Ariany. Why? Or rather, why these two and none of the others? Anyone got any sensible suggestions? I'm damned if I can think of any.
"Illesbalears.es" was the other recommendation. I already knew the answer, but double-checked. There is a link, a link to complete gobbledegook. Fat lot of use.
Oh well, let's forget Winter in Mallorca. It seems as though "they" have, so why should I worry? But there are still the fiestas. Fiestas which are not any old fiestas. Antoni and Sebastià. Sa Pobla, the main centre of Antoni celebrations, and Palma, for Sebastià, to which the whole island descends. Trouble is that no one else much does.
It remains a mystery to me why, given the proximity in time of Antony and Sebastian and their undoubtedly spectacular content, they are not afforded some prominence in encouraging a January tourist. A two-centre fiesta that has the bonus of spreading things about and not being only Palma-centric.
Let's take Sebastian. Three years ago this fiesta began to take shape as an event with international content. Admittedly this was a rump Electric Light Orchestra sans Jeff Lynne who had to step in to replace Earth Wind & Fire who turned out not to be Earth Wind & Fire and didn't turn up, but then there were also Echo And The Bunnymen. Following what was a highly successful Sebastian fiesta, Palma council admitted that more needed to be done to attract an international audience for the concerts and the fire spectacular.
So what happened? Nothing. Instead the following year the acts were solidly local. "Ultima Hora" laid into the event big time, criticising the organisation, criticising the organisers for not knowing what the people wanted, criticising the lack of international acts, criticising the lower quality than in previous years. Economic straitened times might well have been the excuse, but another way of looking at it, despite the expression of good international intentions the previous year, was that they couldn't be bothered. Couldn't be bothered because, well, it's our fiesta, isn't it. Ours as in Mallorcan.
This is what you do have to start to conclude. And it is a conclusion that doesn't apply solely to Antony and Sebastian, it applies to fiestas as a whole. Yet these are at the heart of all the culture garbage that "they" trot out; they are the one aspect of culture that really does mean something to a visitor. Or would do were they given far greater prominence. But they are not. Even the summer fiestas are essentially add-ons; they do not form a focal point for promotion. And then you have the problem as to whether you can find any information or, where you can, if it is not released at too short a notice.
The fires and demons of Antoni, the bands and fire spectacular of Sebastià. Fabulous events. But we'll keep them to ourselves, thanks very much. We'll keep the home fires burning - so long as they stay at home.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
This, at least, is the conclusion you have to draw. And as with the fiestas, so also anything else that occurs. Take the Winter in Mallorca programme. I popped into my local, friendly tourist office the other day. Did they have a copy of the January programme? Not as such. None had been delivered, as indeed none had been delivered in December. Notwithstanding the fact that a call to whoever "they" are to ask if some might be delivered seemed not to have been considered, for a tourist office that happens to be open to be overlooked during the distribution run says much for a - how to put it - uncoordinated approach to information dissemination.
And it's not much better on the internet, a medium which, in these times of spondoolex shortage, offers the advantage of not having to cough up for Mallorca's overpriced print bills. "Infomallorca.net" was volunteered as a source of information for the Winter in Mallorca programme. Sorry, but it isn't. One thing it has is a calendar of "touristic agenda". What does this have? Well, nothing about the fiestas for starters. And nothing about the programme either. Helpfully it does let us know that there are weekly markets in Valldemossa and Ariany. Why? Or rather, why these two and none of the others? Anyone got any sensible suggestions? I'm damned if I can think of any.
"Illesbalears.es" was the other recommendation. I already knew the answer, but double-checked. There is a link, a link to complete gobbledegook. Fat lot of use.
Oh well, let's forget Winter in Mallorca. It seems as though "they" have, so why should I worry? But there are still the fiestas. Fiestas which are not any old fiestas. Antoni and Sebastià. Sa Pobla, the main centre of Antoni celebrations, and Palma, for Sebastià, to which the whole island descends. Trouble is that no one else much does.
It remains a mystery to me why, given the proximity in time of Antony and Sebastian and their undoubtedly spectacular content, they are not afforded some prominence in encouraging a January tourist. A two-centre fiesta that has the bonus of spreading things about and not being only Palma-centric.
Let's take Sebastian. Three years ago this fiesta began to take shape as an event with international content. Admittedly this was a rump Electric Light Orchestra sans Jeff Lynne who had to step in to replace Earth Wind & Fire who turned out not to be Earth Wind & Fire and didn't turn up, but then there were also Echo And The Bunnymen. Following what was a highly successful Sebastian fiesta, Palma council admitted that more needed to be done to attract an international audience for the concerts and the fire spectacular.
So what happened? Nothing. Instead the following year the acts were solidly local. "Ultima Hora" laid into the event big time, criticising the organisation, criticising the organisers for not knowing what the people wanted, criticising the lack of international acts, criticising the lower quality than in previous years. Economic straitened times might well have been the excuse, but another way of looking at it, despite the expression of good international intentions the previous year, was that they couldn't be bothered. Couldn't be bothered because, well, it's our fiesta, isn't it. Ours as in Mallorcan.
This is what you do have to start to conclude. And it is a conclusion that doesn't apply solely to Antony and Sebastian, it applies to fiestas as a whole. Yet these are at the heart of all the culture garbage that "they" trot out; they are the one aspect of culture that really does mean something to a visitor. Or would do were they given far greater prominence. But they are not. Even the summer fiestas are essentially add-ons; they do not form a focal point for promotion. And then you have the problem as to whether you can find any information or, where you can, if it is not released at too short a notice.
The fires and demons of Antoni, the bands and fire spectacular of Sebastià. Fabulous events. But we'll keep them to ourselves, thanks very much. We'll keep the home fires burning - so long as they stay at home.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
In A World Of Contradictions
Returning to a couple of recent stories - the line-up for Palma's Sant Sebastià fiesta and the ongoing troubles at Real Mallorca.
Palma town hall is copping some flak over the promotion of the fiesta, both in terms of the concentration on the music angle and for not having international acts and not giving greater prominence to local Catalan artists. All very contradictory, but 'twas ever thus. Various cultural and music sorts have voiced their views to the "Diario", one saying that there should be greater attention paid to other events, e.g. gastronomy (always gastronomy), and our old friends Músics per la Llengua (who were helpful with some enquiries in the summer) arguing that less well-known Catalan acts should be given centre stage (or stages) in Palma. The chap from the Diario's own radio station is the one who is bemoaning the absence of international artists.
They are all right in their different ways, but the contradictions just go to underline a further criticism of the organisers, that they don't have a "clear project". Well they wouldn't do if people keep offering them different possibilities. Something, though, that needs to be remembered is that Sant Sebastià has two evenings of major ents - one the music, the other the fire-runs and fireworks (assuming the town hall agrees to fireworks this coming January). Both evenings should demand equal weighting, so the criticism of the concentration on the music is partially valid, but nevertheless it - the music - has become synonymous with Sant Sebastià and there is no other island fiesta that has such a long list of acts and such a number of stages. It is curious that the desire for less focus on the music comes from the editor of "Youthing", the "yoof" what's on publication that has nicked the presentation of "Time Out" magazine. It is the absence of international acts, which might help to attract an overseas visitor and which might also give greater impulse to overseas marketing, that is the most valid criticism. But if the town hall hasn't got the money, and it has had to cut its budgets, then it shouldn't be criticised that harshly.
Having said though that Palma council might be a touch brassic, this isn't stopping them planning to buy the former stadium of Real Mallorca, which has been abandoned for years, is derelict and a rare old eyesore. Unlike the current stadium, the club actually owns a part of the old stadium, around a third. So for the town hall to be sniffing around with a cheque book at the ready might sound like good news for a club in such an impecunious state as Real Mallorca is. There again, the town hall places a value of around 18 million euros on the decaying old pile, one that it wants to develop as another conference centre. The group of owners reckon it's worth a minimum of 25 million and won't sell for anything less, which will mean endless discussions and little hope of Real Mallorca getting its hands on some much-needed readies. Not that six million or eight or nine million would go that far when your debts are some ten times greater than any sale revenue. But anything would do just at the moment, for here is a club in serious danger of being booted down the football food chain, i.e. out of La Liga.
Meanwhile, the accusations grow against the now disgraced all but brief owners, the Martí Mingarros and their company, Safin. "The Bulletin" has a fan who does a good regular column about the club, and he has consistently been a supporter of the knight in shining armour, Mateu Alemany, who re-emerges at times of regular crisis to put the club back on its feet. Yet even he now suggests that Alemany might have been more diligent in trawling the internet for evidence of the suitability, or not, of the Mingarros and Safin. Apparently, one can find evidence of unsuitability, so questions might legitimately be asked as to whether Alemany was precipitate in selling to Safin.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Queen, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNf9rEPoc8Q. Today's title - very obscure, but far, far better known is her great song, and she is? Think "Neighbours", but not Kylie.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Palma town hall is copping some flak over the promotion of the fiesta, both in terms of the concentration on the music angle and for not having international acts and not giving greater prominence to local Catalan artists. All very contradictory, but 'twas ever thus. Various cultural and music sorts have voiced their views to the "Diario", one saying that there should be greater attention paid to other events, e.g. gastronomy (always gastronomy), and our old friends Músics per la Llengua (who were helpful with some enquiries in the summer) arguing that less well-known Catalan acts should be given centre stage (or stages) in Palma. The chap from the Diario's own radio station is the one who is bemoaning the absence of international artists.
They are all right in their different ways, but the contradictions just go to underline a further criticism of the organisers, that they don't have a "clear project". Well they wouldn't do if people keep offering them different possibilities. Something, though, that needs to be remembered is that Sant Sebastià has two evenings of major ents - one the music, the other the fire-runs and fireworks (assuming the town hall agrees to fireworks this coming January). Both evenings should demand equal weighting, so the criticism of the concentration on the music is partially valid, but nevertheless it - the music - has become synonymous with Sant Sebastià and there is no other island fiesta that has such a long list of acts and such a number of stages. It is curious that the desire for less focus on the music comes from the editor of "Youthing", the "yoof" what's on publication that has nicked the presentation of "Time Out" magazine. It is the absence of international acts, which might help to attract an overseas visitor and which might also give greater impulse to overseas marketing, that is the most valid criticism. But if the town hall hasn't got the money, and it has had to cut its budgets, then it shouldn't be criticised that harshly.
Having said though that Palma council might be a touch brassic, this isn't stopping them planning to buy the former stadium of Real Mallorca, which has been abandoned for years, is derelict and a rare old eyesore. Unlike the current stadium, the club actually owns a part of the old stadium, around a third. So for the town hall to be sniffing around with a cheque book at the ready might sound like good news for a club in such an impecunious state as Real Mallorca is. There again, the town hall places a value of around 18 million euros on the decaying old pile, one that it wants to develop as another conference centre. The group of owners reckon it's worth a minimum of 25 million and won't sell for anything less, which will mean endless discussions and little hope of Real Mallorca getting its hands on some much-needed readies. Not that six million or eight or nine million would go that far when your debts are some ten times greater than any sale revenue. But anything would do just at the moment, for here is a club in serious danger of being booted down the football food chain, i.e. out of La Liga.
Meanwhile, the accusations grow against the now disgraced all but brief owners, the Martí Mingarros and their company, Safin. "The Bulletin" has a fan who does a good regular column about the club, and he has consistently been a supporter of the knight in shining armour, Mateu Alemany, who re-emerges at times of regular crisis to put the club back on its feet. Yet even he now suggests that Alemany might have been more diligent in trawling the internet for evidence of the suitability, or not, of the Mingarros and Safin. Apparently, one can find evidence of unsuitability, so questions might legitimately be asked as to whether Alemany was precipitate in selling to Safin.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Queen, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNf9rEPoc8Q. Today's title - very obscure, but far, far better known is her great song, and she is? Think "Neighbours", but not Kylie.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
January Came
The autumn fairs season well under way (it's the turns of Pollensa and Muro this weekend - details, as always on the WHAT'S ON BLOG), planning for the winter fiestas also starts. The most spectacular of these is Sant Sebastià in Palma in January. Palma council has announced the ents, the music acts that will play in various squares around the city. In 2008, the organisers branched out. There was a bit of a hiccup surrounding Earth Wind & Fire who weren't really Earth Wind & Fire - more Sod Breeze & Damp Squib - but there was an ELO incarnation, all part of a certain internationalisation of the event, itself with the aim, or so it was said, of broadening appeal and attracting more overseas visitors.
Unfortunately, economic reality has bitten, and the council has had to trim its budgets. The town hall deserves some sympathy - all the ents are, after all, free - but it is a shame that this international element will be missing this January, as it was this year. Sant Sebastià should be the focal event for whatever tourism can be attracted in the fallow month of January, and while it does attract some, a more adventurous line-up might help to boost numbers. For this coming January, the acts read rather like many a Mallorcan fiesta, usual suspects such as Tomeu Penya and a boasting as to how many of the bands will be performing in Catalan. So much for international appeal. Perhaps the tourism authorities might like to consider diverting some of the money they spend on questionable winter promotions to Sant Sebastià and giving it a real boost. Not, though, that this would help the north of the island. But if winter tourism is going to be primarily Palma-centric, then so this fiesta should be given more of an official leg-up.
While it's fair enough to promote Catalan musicians, one of the great advantages of English-singing acts is that they contribute to a learning of English. Music, as much as other forms of communication, is an effective conduit for stimulating language interest and learning. With this in mind, it is interesting to hear of a report from the Oxford University Press into the study of English and English ability among the people of the Balearics. One out of three have never studied the language, and of those who have, the standards are not necessarily that high. Yet, a great majority of islanders recognise the importance of English. Which is as it should be, not because it makes expats' lives easier, but because of the fundamental importance of the English-speaking tourism market and the opportunities that the language affords.
Twisting the knife
How much would you spend on a loo-roll holder? Would you even bother? There is something to be said for the loo-roll holder being a largely superfluous item of bathroom furniture. But assuming you might decide that today is the day to go out and acquire that much-needed new holder, would you divvy up 319 euros? Probably not. This, though, is what one such holder in the house of Jaume Matas (following on from yesterday) cost. Twisting the knife indeed, and it was the "Diario" doing so in an hilarious piece about holders, loos and bidets chez Matas. And by the way. Do you know what the Spanish is for lavatory? No? Well, it is "váter". Think about it.
And if not the former president getting it in the neck, then it must be the recently departed owners who never were of Real Mallorca. Now that Alemany is back in charge, his chaps are giving the books a good once-over. He has lodged a "denuncia" against the Martí Mingarro clan, and one of the slight anomalies to come to light is that the club's credit cards were used for visits to what the press terms "locales nocturnos", which may cover a multitude of sins or may not.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - "The Reflex", Duran Duran, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQnqNLeiWKw. Today's title - American band, named after a Bond character and film.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Unfortunately, economic reality has bitten, and the council has had to trim its budgets. The town hall deserves some sympathy - all the ents are, after all, free - but it is a shame that this international element will be missing this January, as it was this year. Sant Sebastià should be the focal event for whatever tourism can be attracted in the fallow month of January, and while it does attract some, a more adventurous line-up might help to boost numbers. For this coming January, the acts read rather like many a Mallorcan fiesta, usual suspects such as Tomeu Penya and a boasting as to how many of the bands will be performing in Catalan. So much for international appeal. Perhaps the tourism authorities might like to consider diverting some of the money they spend on questionable winter promotions to Sant Sebastià and giving it a real boost. Not, though, that this would help the north of the island. But if winter tourism is going to be primarily Palma-centric, then so this fiesta should be given more of an official leg-up.
While it's fair enough to promote Catalan musicians, one of the great advantages of English-singing acts is that they contribute to a learning of English. Music, as much as other forms of communication, is an effective conduit for stimulating language interest and learning. With this in mind, it is interesting to hear of a report from the Oxford University Press into the study of English and English ability among the people of the Balearics. One out of three have never studied the language, and of those who have, the standards are not necessarily that high. Yet, a great majority of islanders recognise the importance of English. Which is as it should be, not because it makes expats' lives easier, but because of the fundamental importance of the English-speaking tourism market and the opportunities that the language affords.
Twisting the knife
How much would you spend on a loo-roll holder? Would you even bother? There is something to be said for the loo-roll holder being a largely superfluous item of bathroom furniture. But assuming you might decide that today is the day to go out and acquire that much-needed new holder, would you divvy up 319 euros? Probably not. This, though, is what one such holder in the house of Jaume Matas (following on from yesterday) cost. Twisting the knife indeed, and it was the "Diario" doing so in an hilarious piece about holders, loos and bidets chez Matas. And by the way. Do you know what the Spanish is for lavatory? No? Well, it is "váter". Think about it.
And if not the former president getting it in the neck, then it must be the recently departed owners who never were of Real Mallorca. Now that Alemany is back in charge, his chaps are giving the books a good once-over. He has lodged a "denuncia" against the Martí Mingarro clan, and one of the slight anomalies to come to light is that the club's credit cards were used for visits to what the press terms "locales nocturnos", which may cover a multitude of sins or may not.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - "The Reflex", Duran Duran, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQnqNLeiWKw. Today's title - American band, named after a Bond character and film.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Every Day Should Be A Holiday
Many though the number of holidays may be, not every day is a holiday and not every day is a holiday everywhere, albeit that I'm beginning to believe that, on any given day, somewhere is celebrating a holiday. Life can get very confusing here. Yesterday was Sant Sebastià. Ostensibly a Palma-only gig, it has found its way onto the list of holidays and therefore days off elsewhere on the island. Sant Antoni was on Saturday; it's a bigger thrash in some places compared with others and is a holiday in some towns and not others. Then there is the word itself - fiesta. It means both party and holiday. Some places it's a party-holiday, a fiesta-fiesta, if you like; some places it's just a party - fiesta-lite - or neither a holiday nor a party, it seems. Keeping track of all of this is virtually impossible. For example, the Saturday gone, in Pollensa, was a fiesta-fiesta, a holiday and a party for Sant Antoni and the pine-tree climbing. Yesterday was a fiesta-fiesta for Sebastian in certain municipalities, but wasn't in others; indeed it wasn't really even a fiesta-lite in others.
So, I went along to the municipal building in Playa de Muro. My intention was to post two birthday cards at the post office. Strangely, the shutters for the post office were pulled to, but the building was open. Cati, the receptionist at what doubles as the tourist office and Muro's satellite town hall office, said the post office was closed. I could see that.
"Fiesta."
"Fiesta?"
"Fiesta."
"But you're working," I point out.
"It's not a fiesta in Muro."
I look at the locked door of the post office with a growing sense of bewilderment. It is a fiesta in Can Picafort. But this isn't Can Picafort. No, but the post office is. Let's just run through all that again - the post office, which is located in Muro, is closed because, although it is in Muro, it isn't; it is in fact in Can Picafort (or Santa Margalida if you want to be pedantic). And because it isn't in Muro - as such - it is closed because today is a holiday in Can Picafort. Well, glad we've got that straightened out.
The danger, having found that the not-the-Muro-sub-post-office is shut for the day, is if then one decides to go to a different post office. As it turns out, Alcúdia, for example, would have been a safe bet; no fiesta or at least not a fiesta-fiesta. But had one gone off to Sa Pobla it would not have been. Despite Sant Antoni being such a big deal there, they take Sebastian off.
I once suggested that Mallorca should sell itself as a 365-day-a-year party-people place. Even on this relatively small island, it may indeed be possible to find somewhere that is holding a fiesta, and somewhere that is, therefore, closed for the day. Never let it be said that something as trivial as work might get in the way of a day off and a fiesta. Or in the way of bringing the postal system to a grinding halt, in whichever town it happens to be - or not.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - "Sebastian", Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OIFk2dQcno). Today's title - single by one of the Portland, Oregon flock. Think play on the name of an artist.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
So, I went along to the municipal building in Playa de Muro. My intention was to post two birthday cards at the post office. Strangely, the shutters for the post office were pulled to, but the building was open. Cati, the receptionist at what doubles as the tourist office and Muro's satellite town hall office, said the post office was closed. I could see that.
"Fiesta."
"Fiesta?"
"Fiesta."
"But you're working," I point out.
"It's not a fiesta in Muro."
I look at the locked door of the post office with a growing sense of bewilderment. It is a fiesta in Can Picafort. But this isn't Can Picafort. No, but the post office is. Let's just run through all that again - the post office, which is located in Muro, is closed because, although it is in Muro, it isn't; it is in fact in Can Picafort (or Santa Margalida if you want to be pedantic). And because it isn't in Muro - as such - it is closed because today is a holiday in Can Picafort. Well, glad we've got that straightened out.
The danger, having found that the not-the-Muro-sub-post-office is shut for the day, is if then one decides to go to a different post office. As it turns out, Alcúdia, for example, would have been a safe bet; no fiesta or at least not a fiesta-fiesta. But had one gone off to Sa Pobla it would not have been. Despite Sant Antoni being such a big deal there, they take Sebastian off.
I once suggested that Mallorca should sell itself as a 365-day-a-year party-people place. Even on this relatively small island, it may indeed be possible to find somewhere that is holding a fiesta, and somewhere that is, therefore, closed for the day. Never let it be said that something as trivial as work might get in the way of a day off and a fiesta. Or in the way of bringing the postal system to a grinding halt, in whichever town it happens to be - or not.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - "Sebastian", Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OIFk2dQcno). Today's title - single by one of the Portland, Oregon flock. Think play on the name of an artist.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Somebody Called Me Sebastian
You have to go to the Spanish press to get anything that is especially critical when it comes to local issues. It would be most unlikely that you would read anything like a piece in "Ultima Hora" yesterday in the English press, a piece that had a right old go at Palma town hall for its organisation of this year's Sant Sebastià jollies. To remind you - San Sebastià is one of the biggest gigs of the year. Sebastià (Sebastian, obviously) is the patron saint of Palma. Some of you may recall I explained how he came to be so once before on the blog, but it maybe bears repetition from three years ago, so here goes ...
"Sebastian, originally from France, was a Roman soldier, martyred for his Christian faith. That he became Palma’s patron saint was pure chance; it wasn’t as if he had any association with the place, while his crypt is to be found in Rome. But in the first part of the sixteenth century (1523 is generally considered to be the year), there was a particularly bad dose of the plague knocking around. Anyway, or so the story goes, one Manuel Suriavisqui, the owner of a bone from Sebastian, pitched up in Palma at the time of the plague, together with the bone. And what do you know...? That old bone helped to quell the plague. And so Sebastian was declared the patron of Palma."
Sebastian may have been hijacked by other parts of the island (any excuse for a fiesta anywhere is gratefully accepted), but in Palma he, and his celebrations, remain hugely significant. Last night was the music night, with the squares in the centre open to acts of varying sorts. Last year there was an international flavour - ELO, for example. This year there was not. Last year they said, after the event, that more needed to be done in terms of international promotion and attracting an international audience to Palma for Sebastian. This year they seem to have overlooked this.
"Ultima Hora" criticises the organisers for not knowing what the people of Palma want, for the lack of international acts, for lower quality than in previous years. It points out that there were few even national performers; most were local and that meant Catalan. There seems to have been a politicisation of the music of Sebastian. Maybe it was just because Palma couldn't afford anyone else, or maybe it was propitious and allowed them to justify a much more parochial approach. If so, they have made a big mistake. Sebastian is a cracking event, and the town hall knows that it deserves more international attention, so why fall back on the purely local? Whatever happened to that increased international promotion? Yea, ok, perhaps it's just the economy determining this year's event, but perhaps - and it wouldn't be the first time I've said it - the Mallorcans just don't want foreigners at their do's.
And perhaps they don't want them because there are sufficient bodies knocking about as it is. At the Sa Pobla witches night event, 8,000 made use of the special train services alone. In Muro, for the blessing of the animals, there were some 5,000 - people, that is, as opposed to animals. The numbers who turn up, year in, year out, may not make a lot of sense when you consider that these events are basically the same, year in, year out. But then, you read something else in "Ultima Hora", something in Catalan that, under the heading "Sant Antoni i Sant Sebastià", begins "som un poble" (we are a people), and which you know is going to be a reflection on the changes of local society and traditions - and it is. It is also not a million miles away from what I have said before about the way in which they keep hold of their traditions here as some form of mass psychological buffer to the changes that have occurred. In fact, it is very close to what I have said, which, I guess, is rather reassuring - for me, at any rate. And this may explain why they - the Mallorcans - are indifferent, antagonistic perhaps to those traditions being internationalised either through content or by those in attendance. And then someone goes and complains about not enough being done for winter tourism ...
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - "Just Stand Up", Mariah Carey, Beyoncé et al (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfbxxd01mzk). Today's title - it was the first single by whom? Quite unlike what one came to associate with him/them.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
"Sebastian, originally from France, was a Roman soldier, martyred for his Christian faith. That he became Palma’s patron saint was pure chance; it wasn’t as if he had any association with the place, while his crypt is to be found in Rome. But in the first part of the sixteenth century (1523 is generally considered to be the year), there was a particularly bad dose of the plague knocking around. Anyway, or so the story goes, one Manuel Suriavisqui, the owner of a bone from Sebastian, pitched up in Palma at the time of the plague, together with the bone. And what do you know...? That old bone helped to quell the plague. And so Sebastian was declared the patron of Palma."
Sebastian may have been hijacked by other parts of the island (any excuse for a fiesta anywhere is gratefully accepted), but in Palma he, and his celebrations, remain hugely significant. Last night was the music night, with the squares in the centre open to acts of varying sorts. Last year there was an international flavour - ELO, for example. This year there was not. Last year they said, after the event, that more needed to be done in terms of international promotion and attracting an international audience to Palma for Sebastian. This year they seem to have overlooked this.
"Ultima Hora" criticises the organisers for not knowing what the people of Palma want, for the lack of international acts, for lower quality than in previous years. It points out that there were few even national performers; most were local and that meant Catalan. There seems to have been a politicisation of the music of Sebastian. Maybe it was just because Palma couldn't afford anyone else, or maybe it was propitious and allowed them to justify a much more parochial approach. If so, they have made a big mistake. Sebastian is a cracking event, and the town hall knows that it deserves more international attention, so why fall back on the purely local? Whatever happened to that increased international promotion? Yea, ok, perhaps it's just the economy determining this year's event, but perhaps - and it wouldn't be the first time I've said it - the Mallorcans just don't want foreigners at their do's.
And perhaps they don't want them because there are sufficient bodies knocking about as it is. At the Sa Pobla witches night event, 8,000 made use of the special train services alone. In Muro, for the blessing of the animals, there were some 5,000 - people, that is, as opposed to animals. The numbers who turn up, year in, year out, may not make a lot of sense when you consider that these events are basically the same, year in, year out. But then, you read something else in "Ultima Hora", something in Catalan that, under the heading "Sant Antoni i Sant Sebastià", begins "som un poble" (we are a people), and which you know is going to be a reflection on the changes of local society and traditions - and it is. It is also not a million miles away from what I have said before about the way in which they keep hold of their traditions here as some form of mass psychological buffer to the changes that have occurred. In fact, it is very close to what I have said, which, I guess, is rather reassuring - for me, at any rate. And this may explain why they - the Mallorcans - are indifferent, antagonistic perhaps to those traditions being internationalised either through content or by those in attendance. And then someone goes and complains about not enough being done for winter tourism ...
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - "Just Stand Up", Mariah Carey, Beyoncé et al (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfbxxd01mzk). Today's title - it was the first single by whom? Quite unlike what one came to associate with him/them.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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