The Pirates Are Here – Again: Fiesta elections

The annual voting season has been and gone. Did you miss it? Had you been in the old town of Pollensa last Friday you wouldn’t have. Had you been in Santa Margalida on Sunday at the Augustine nuns’ convent you wouldn’t have.

The people of the two towns have had their votes. In Pollensa, some 3,500 of them took part in the election. Joan Mas and Dragut in Pollensa; Santa Catalina in Santa Margalida – Christian and Moor; la Beata. The Patrona battle between Moors and Christians will kick off, as normal, on 2 August; the procession of Beata will take place on the first Sunday of September. One Joan Ramon Armengual will be Joan (which seems appropriate – a Joan as a Joan): one Joan, there’s only one Joan. Oh not there isn’t; there are thousands of them, even in a small town like Pollensa. A Jaume Oliver will be the pirate Dragut, and Antònia Socies, la Beata. So now you know.

As usual, the victors can’t quite believe it. It’s the stuff of dreams, as usual. And not just for those heading the cast lists. Joan has his mates, Dragut his co-invaders, Beata her attendants. In Pollensa, there is even voting for members of the “old” town hall. There are any number of jobs for the boys and girls in the two towns, all part of the street theatre that is the battle and the Beata.

One of the unsuccesful Draguts was our old friend Toni, he of the Store Formentor at the Bellesreguard complex in Puerto Pollensa. He and his compatriots came halfway in the voting. He didn’t seem too unhappy with the result. Not that fearsome though. If you’re going to be part of some street theatre, you have, I suppose, to look the part. But simply racing around the old town, engaging in a bit of a bundle is not all there is to it. Joans have some lines to learn. One hopes they never fluff them: “Mare de Déu dels Àngels, assistiu-mos. Pollencins, aixecau-vos, que els pirates ja són aquí.” How many times will the latest Joan be reciting these words over the next few days, in advance of the big moment? One trusts there’ll be no stage fright.

Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Childhood Dreams

Every year the people of Pollensa gather to vote in the current-day players of an act that is over 450 years old; the Joan Mas and Dragut of the Christians and Moors role game during the Patrona fiestas. They gather not in the Plaça Major but in the Plaça Vella (the old square), a small area that is the scene of some of the more traditional aspects of Pollensa life; it is the Plaça Vella that is the site, for example, of the climbing of the soapy pine tree during Sant Antoni in January. It is a matter of local pride for the youngish male Pollensa citizens to be acclaimed pine-tree victor or Mas or Dragut. This year’s Joan, Pep Martorell, said (as reported in “The Diario”) that it has been his “dream since small” to be Joan. Some small boys dream of being a train driver, others of playing at the Camp Nou, others, it seems, of being the vanquisher of the Moors. Small boys grow up, but they still enjoy small boy games, such as running around the town pretending to be pirates or defenders. It beats a computer game version, but like all games it is virtual. They are virtual, pretend, play-act Joans and Draguts. But they are also pretend entertainers. Not on the stages of Pirates but on the streets of a real town, steeped in history and antiquity, presenting a show for tourists and residents alike. They should charge an admission fee, for this is historical spectacle performed in a popular fashion by the people for whom it means most, who grow up and live with the tradition, and dream, as small boys, of being the performers. 

 

This is not spectacle stage-managed, choreographed, set to music, served up at a table with a chicken in a basket and a bottle of plonk. This is not removed from context, sanitised and artificial theatre of gleaming entertainers. This is spectacle as real, even if it is virtual; spectacle in context in the very streets of their town. It is an extraordinary tradition. Living theatre created by the people and for the people. Democratically chosen representatives of the local history. Remarkable.  

 

 

Christians and Moors – what happens

The Christians and Moors event, on 2 August, really gets under way at seven in the evening when Joan and Dragut come together in the Plaça Almoina, Joan calling out to the mother of the angels for assistance for the “Pollencins” in defeating the pirates (led by Dragut). It moves to the church of Sant Jordi and the liberation of women and children held captive in the church. The final “battle” takes place at the football arena Can Escarrintxo where Joan takes the enemy’s flag and then leads his men to the main church where the Christians celebrate their victory by giving thanks to La Patrona.

 

 

Bellevue – more

It now appears that Thomson is pulling clients out of Bellevue owing to health and safety reasons – as being reported on the forums. This follows the news of a week ago that First Choice was placing clients elsewhere. Now what health and safety reasons might these be? There is sympathy for the hotel, but pretty much everyone locally knows what this is about. The hotel has got a big problem; it could do with some decent PR. In fact, it could do with any PR.