Festivals and colorful costumes flood the streets of Mallorca

2023 returned to host the Sa Rua carnival for the first time without restrictions since the pandemic.

This year’s festivities were going to be extremely popular and they did not disappoint. Carnivals took place all over the island and various municipalities handed out a variety of prizes and prizes, with the largest taking place in the capital of Palma.

Carnival is celebrated as a precursor to Holy Week and Lent on the Island of Mallorca. See the streets awash with dazzling costumes, twirling dancers, and parades of people.

In 2020 the Palma City Council decided to introduce a separate day to the festivities in the week before Sa Rua. Sa Rueta, equally cheerful, is aimed at families and children.

the 12^he February saw the second installment of Sa Rueta with families who went to the streets between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to enjoy the 31 activities and facilities on offer. The children enjoyed climbing walls, circuses, animated characters, theater, popular games, face painting, musical entertainment, clowns and storytelling.

Next Sunday the 19th^he In February, the Sa Rua carnival took place at 5:00 p.m. and welcomed thousands of participants among numerous floats and dance troupes. Four prizes were awarded for floats and another four for dance troupes; the categories included the most original, demanding, elaborate and lively. The prizes, endowed with 450 and 200 euros respectively, were intended to recognize especially those who encapsulated the “ironic and satirical character of carnival.”

A little history:

Key elements of every Mallorcan and Catalan carnival are the distinctive papier-mâché ‘giants’ and ‘big heads’ (gegants i capgrossos), a tradition that has a long and twisted history.

According to the Catalan Costumari, the first known presence of these processional giants were biblical representations dating from 1380 in Barcelona. In Mallorca it is believed that the first reference to a couple of giants dates from 1630.

The participation of the festival giants in religious ceremonies was prohibited by Carlos III in 1780. They were considered grotesque and too far removed from their religious characters. Records suggest that the religious giants owned by Palma City Council were kept in a church.

Over time, the giants began to represent popular figures such as council members, city founders, and key figures in the region’s history.

During the Franco regime, the ‘gegants’ and ‘capgrossos’ practically disappeared. The representation of popular heroes was seen as a ‘pagan’ practice and to avoid angering the regime, the giants adopted the characters of the Catholic Monarchs.

With the advent of democracy, the processional giants re-adopted their local identities, marking a new era for the Giants and a guaranteed survival of this tradition.