Christianity and traditional celebrations
Most Spaniards are Catholics, at least by tradition if not by confession, and as far as religion is concerned, the inhabitants of the Balearic Islands behave in much the same way as the peninsulars. However, customs are changing and the pews of the churches are becoming emptier and emptier, especially during Sunday mass. In fact, a good quarter of Spaniards say they are atheists, and the occasions for going to church are limited to celebrations such as weddings, funerals and baptisms, which in many respects are more social than religious gatherings. Catholicism, however, continues to play a determining role in the course of the year. In fact, in addition to the many religious holidays that punctuate the calendar, the Cavalcada dels Reis d'Orient (Feast of the Kings, at the beginning of January) or the Setmana Santa (Easter week) are moments of authentic religious fervor. In Palma in particular, the Easter processions are impressive! The towns and villages of the archipelago also celebrate their patron saint's day every year with great pomp and circumstance: these are important moments when young and old meet in the public space and pay homage to the patron saint of their locality in a spirit of good-natured celebration.
Thus, Sant Sebastià is celebrated by lighting braziers in all four corners of Palma on January 20; thanks are given to the Virgin of Carme, protector of fishermen, in all the ports of the Balearic Islands on July 16, and even at sea; Formentera praises Sant Jaume, protector of the island, on July 25; the city of Eivissa is taken by hysteria on August 5 to celebrate Santa Maria de la Nieves, patron saint of the city, and again three days later around the figure of San Ciriaco, patron saint of the island; on September 9, it is in Mare de Déu de la Gràcia that Maó (Menorca) is honored with incredible equestrian shows In addition to these religious celebrations, there are older pagan festivals that were later incorporated into Catholicism, such as the festival of Sa Pobla (Mallorca), where a central character of Mallorcan folklore appears in the streets of the village on Sant Antoni's day (January 16): el dimoni, mischievous devil chasing the most timid, dancing and drinking in a spirit of pranksterism (not to be confused with the correfocs, devils with pyrotechnic equipment that only appear in the twentieth century). The Nit de Sant Joan, on June 24, is another great pagan festival, celebrating the arrival of summer. Due to the arrival of many foreign nationals, other religions such as Islam and Protestantism are also practiced in the islands, although they are in the minority and have their own places of worship. Finally, some sects are implanted in the archipelago, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Baha'i or the Mormon Church.
Pre-Christian cultures
But the Balearic Islands, before the arrival of Christianity, were inhabited by various civilizations with their own belief systems that have left behind some remains: the necropolises and their thousands of graves dating from the Phoenician-archaic period (seventh century BC), such as Puig des Molins (Ibiza) or Punta dels Fenicis (Mallorca), from which archaeologists have been able to extract various objects related to funeral rites, but also to the history of the islandC.), such as Puig des Molins (Ibiza) or Punta dels Fenicis (Mallorca), from which archaeologists have been able to extract various objects related to funerary rites, but also the mysterious megalithic monuments dating from the Talayotic era (2nd century B.C.) that dot the territory of Menorca and whose meaning is still unknown.
With regard to the amulets from Punic graves (Carthaginian civilization), pieces of carved bone or necklaces of pearls and bronze bells with a clearly Egyptian typology, most of which were found in children's graves, the most likely hypothesis is that they were fetishes that were supposed to protect the youngest, and therefore the weakest, from disease. The figure of Tanit, goddess of Ibiza, also comes from the Punic period. Her cult, which lasted several centuries on the island, required human sacrifices. Diodorus of Sicily mentions child sacrifices (urns containing children's bones have been found, mixed with animal bones). Ibiza was also once spoken of as a center of pleasure or sacred prostitution, dedicated to the cult of Tanit: this was twenty-five centuries ago, if one believes the terracotta figurines of a sexual nature. However, all this is still very uncertain.
In Menorca, the legacy of the ancients takes the form of a breathtaking collection of megalithic constructions that were probably erected more than 2,000 years ago. If there are more than 1,600 of them on the whole island, the role that these shuttles - piles of stones made without cement or mortar - fulfilled is still very mysterious to historians and archaeologists. The human bones found in the burial chamber of the Naveta d'Es Tudons (the largest and best preserved on the island, located in the western part of Menorca, a few kilometers from Ciutadella), but also in other areas of the island, suggest that they were funerary monuments. But the buildings that are most resistant to interpretation are the taules, colossal structures made of a vertical pillar topped by a huge stone arranged horizontally in the shape of a "T", which are only found in Menorca (about thirty in all). Are they the pedestals of ancient consecrated sacrificial spaces, the remains of the base of more imposing constructions? No definitive explanation has yet been put forward. The quantity and good conservation of these monuments are such that in 2019, the island was, as Menorca Talaiòtica, candidate to receive the UNESCO label. If the application has been accepted de facto, it will probably take until the end of 2023 for the official distinction to be awarded. More information at www.menorcatalayotica.info/es
Some legends of Ibiza
The legend of the fameliars. According to the legend, there are particularly ugly little creatures in Santa Eulària with an absolutely amazing work force: the fameliars. To capture one, you have to go under the Old Bridge of Santa Eulària, equipped with a black bottle into which you have poured a little holy water, and then pick a glittering flower that only appears in this place on the night before the feast of St. John, to introduce it into the container. Some time later, a fameliar is born there. The owner can release it at will, making sure that he can satisfy the ferocious appetite of this little being that has become his servant, that is to say, provide him with colossal quantities of work or food. For as soon as the fameliar is out of the bottle, it demands " Feina o menjar! " (" work or food! ") and only calms down once one of its two requests is met. If the fameliar 's master is unable to provide him with enough food to satisfy his appetite or enough work to satisfy his strength, the fameliar will devour the entire pantry. The only solution to avoid such a calamity would be to ask the little being to accomplish an impossible task... Along the river of Santa Eulària winds a small path along which we can cross some fameliars... statues!
Es Vedrà and its legends. The southwestern region of Ibiza has always been rich in myths and legends: the goddess Tanit was worshipped there, the mermaids of the sunken city of Atlantis were sought, but also, with the arrival of the new wave, UFOs in the depths of the sea. If science tends to refute all these hypotheses, the experience of a somewhat non-conformist monk of the Carmelite order on the islet of Es Vedrà in 1864 is quite historical. Francisco Palau (1811-1872), who had become an embarrassment to the Church because of his unconventional ideas, was sent to Ibiza in 1854 by the ecclesiastical authorities, where he set up a hermitage in a cave on the side of Es Cubells. At the beginning of 1864, he decided to get involved again in the life of the city, with the aim of exorcising the impious peasants of the island. Soon, tired of preaching to the people, and with the help of a fisherman friend, he withdrew to a cave in Es Vedrà, devoting himself fully to meditation. It was then that a series of intense nocturnal revelations came to him, which he later compiled in a collection that combined the theme of ecstatic self-transformation with symbolism linked to gardening, an activity held in high esteem by the island's inhabitants. Francisco Palau became an important figure on the island and his first hermitage in Es Cubells became an important place of pilgrimage. The monk was beatified in 1988.
The Buddha of Atlantis. A hundred meters above the natural pools of the place called Atlantis, partially hidden behind juniper branches, we find one of the hidden treasures of Ibiza: a huge circular painting printed on the rock representing a Buddha. Rumor has it that it was done by a Vietnam veteran of Japanese origin, judging by the date that accompanies the drawing, 1979, written in Japanese ideograms. It is actually a Bodhisattva of compassion with multiple arms that became a symbol of the island in the 1980s. In 2011, however, the work was vandalized with spray paint, which admirers of the Buddha have subsequently meticulously reproduced. Today, the place is still a sanctuary for those who seek peace and it is not uncommon to come across apprentices meditating in the lotus position. Nevertheless, the mystery remains around the author of the Buddha of Atlantis. All that is known is that his name was Mabo and that he had something to do with the island of Kyushu.
