Mallorca’s capital, Palma, is preparing for Easter as ‘Semana Santa’, Holy Week, starts on April 2nd, Palm Sunday. In the coming days, florists and the flower market stalls in Palma’s Rambla sell skilfully woven white palm leaves that traditionally come from Elche in southeast Spain. People take these to church on Palma Sunday to be blessed and, afterward, you may see them hanging over front doors or on balconies of homes here.
If you’d like to learn some new culinary skills and recipes, how about a one-day cooking workshop in Mallorca? You’ll pick up some tips and techniques to impress family and friends when you next cook for them.
The east-coast resort of Sa Coma is the place to be for foodies over the weekend of March 17th-19th, with cooking contests, tastings, workshops, show-cooking, and a gastronomic market all on the agenda for Protur Chef 2023 Gastro Weekend.
Mallorca always seems to have something to celebrate and next it’s Día de las Illes Balears – Balearics Day. This commemorates the Statute of Autonomy that gave Mallorca and her sister islands their own parliament in 1983. The 40th Balearics Day is on Wednesday, March 1st, and it’s a public holiday too.
The composer Frederick Chopin’s links to Mallorca – and Valldemossa – are well known, thanks to the famous book ‘A Winter in Mallorca’, written by his lover George Sand about their stay here together in the winter of 1838/39.
Even if you’re not giving up any of life’s pleasures for the forty days of Lent, you can still celebrate carnival – when practising Christians traditionally feast and enjoy themselves as much as possible before the period of abstinence starts that leads to Easter.
Have you discovered the health benefits of Tai Chi – often referred to as moving meditation? It’s a branch of ancient Chinese martial arts and comprises exercises balanced between yin and yang, which makes it highly effective as a health practice.
If you’d like to get fitter this year but you’re not a gym bunny, how about Nordic Walking in Mallorca? It’s a resistance sport that exercises around 90 per cent of your muscles and has numerous benefits for your health, both physical and psychological. Practising Nordic Walking with a group of people on an organised outing is also a great way to meet new people, practise your language skills, and help boost your social life.
Photo by freshandeazy.com / Dimonis Sineu
The Three Kings have been and gone but one of Mallorca’s most popular, traditional fiestas is still to come: the celebration of Sant Antoni, the patron saint of animals.
If you’re a resident in Mallorca, be sure to get your travel card – or ‘Tarjeta Intermodal’ – and you can enjoy FREE train*, metro, and bus travel throughout 2023. It makes this a good year to explore more of the island.
Get 2023 off to a musical start by enjoying some of the varied entertainment on offer in the first week of January.
If you’ve visited Mallorca’s Christmas market in Palma’s Plaza Major, you’ll have seen the stalls offering small figures and ornaments for nativity scenes – or ‘betlems’, as they are known here.
If you like to indulge in sweet treats at Christmas, Mallorca has a few traditional ones you should try over the festive period.
With two public holidays this week in Mallorca – Tuesday and Thursday – and festive shopping still to be done, you may like to check out more of the Christmas markets happening around Mallorca soon. Even if you’re not buying, browsing among the festive stalls is a great way to get into the spirit of the season.
If Christmas shopping is on your agenda, check out Mallorca’s Christmas market stalls for interesting gifts, decorative items, and a festive ambience.
Olive oil is an essential element of Mallorcan gastronomy and all-things olive are celebrated at one of Mallorca’s most popular autumn fairs. The picturesque village of Caimari – between Selva and the mountains – is home to the annual Fira de s’Oliva, which this year celebrates its 25th edition.
Easter is an important religious festival in Mallorca, and Holy Week, or Semana Santa, is full of rituals. It all begins on Palm Sunday, April 10th this year. Before then, you’ll find beautifully woven white palm leaves from Elche in southeast Spain for sale in florists and at the Rambla flower stalls in Palma. After these palms have been blessed at church, people hang them at their homes above doors or on balconies.
After a break because of the pandemic, one of Palma’s two most popular art events is back in its usual form this Saturday, March 26th.
Mallorca has some amazing caves full of mighty stalactites and stalagmites and at this time of year they’re not as busy with tourists.
All around Mallorca you’ll find traditional weekly markets happening in towns large and small. But the island also has some different markets to discover and a rummage around one of these can be a fun way to spend a morning.
Now is the time to enjoy a star of Catalan cuisine – the ‘calçot’. A calçot is a cross between a spring onion and a leek and they’re truly seasonal.
Seeing Mallorca from horseback gives a different perspective of the island and is the perfect way to discover the landscape. Riding is a popular pursuit with the locals, so you’ll find stables and riding centres around Mallorca offering horse-riding for adults and youngsters, and pony trekking for little ones.
Want to take home some new skills? You’ll find several cooking classes and workshops on offer in Mallorca – a chance to impress your friends with new recipes and culinary techniques learnt from experts.
Some of Mallorca’s most internationally awarded wines are produced in the heart of Manacor, at Vins Miquel Gelabert, with the Denomination of Origin Pla i Llevant. Their wines have been made from carefully hand-harvested grapes since 1985.
Foto: Museo Sa Bassa Blanca
Mallorca’s museums are a great introduction to the island’s culture and society, and there’s a variety of museums to suit different interests.
January is usually a fun month of fiestas in Mallorca – even after The Three Kings have paraded in style to deliver their gifts.
The clarity of light on a sunny winter’s day in Mallorca is perfect for seeing the island from a high viewpoint. Mallorca has several hilltop sanctuaries offering superb vistas that are worth the drive, cycle, or hike up to enjoy them.
Hiking is a great activity if you’ve resolved to get fitter and spend more time outdoors this winter. Mallorca’s varied landscape and terrain offer hiking possibilities for all levels of fitness and ability.
Start the New Year in Mallorca with some festive entertainment. How about attending a traditional orchestral concert, or seeing the world’s best-loved seasonal ballet?
Festive feasting is part of the Mallorcan Christmas season and the delicious, traditional treats at this time of year are worth the extra calories.
A nativity scene is a much-loved Christmas tradition in many Mallorcan homes. Festive market stalls in Plaza Mayor sell a huge choice of figures and ornaments to create or add to these nativity scenes, which are known as ‘betlems’ in Catalan.
Olives have been cultivated in Mallorca for more than two thousand years and ninety per cent of the island’s olive trees are said to be more than 500 years old. In the 19 th century, olive oil from Mallorca was recognised for its high quality and made up 80 per cent of exports from the island…
A visit to Mallorca at this time of year isn’t complete without exploring the Christmas markets. In an atmosphere of festive cheer, you’ll find a wealth of handcrafted gifts and festive ornaments for your home. Here are some of the best …
If you’re a fan of jazz, this is a good time to be in Mallorca – with two major jazz festivals taking place during November and December.
It’s often said that tapas came about when bars used to give customers a small slice of bread or ham to cover their drinks to keep out flies. Tapar is the Spanish word for ‘to cover’ and that’s where the name of the bite-sized nibbles came from. This is only one of several stories about the origin of tapas, but one thing is for sure: a tapeo – going out for tapas – is an essential part of Mallorcan social life.