Intangible Tourism: Sibil·la

Had you attended matins on Christmas Eve, you would have heard the chant of the Sybil – Sibil·la. The chant, together with the carrying of a sword and candles and the wearing of costumes of white or coloured tunics, was placed on Unesco’s list of practices described as “intangible cultural heritage of humanity”. It was done so on account of, inter alia, the chant giving the people of Mallorca “a strong feeling of identity and pride”.

The Sybil was one of many practices that Unesco chose to list in 2010. Two of the others were specifically Spanish – flamenco and human towers – and a further two were shared with other countries, falconry and the Mediterranean diet. Practices from elsewhere sound somewhat bizarre and obscure, such as the scissors dance of Peru, the Kirkpinar oil wrestling festival of Turkey and the hopping procession of Echternach in Luxembourg. What all have in common is folkloric and cultural tradition.

While the likes of flamenco are known globally, the Sibil·la is not. It is performed in places other than Mallorca, but its association is firmly with Mallorca, even if its origins are not. The identity and pride referred to by Unesco have been evident from the reporting of the listing of the Sybil, but should it be something to be exploited or should it remain on the island for the islanders?

This question has been addressed by a leading local musicologist, Francesc Vicens. He worries that things shouldn’t get out of hand, that Mallorca doesn’t have a record of cultural symbolism, such as the Sybil, being subjected to pressures of a more global style, i.e. from outside the island. At the same time, however, he is aware that it would be a contradiction that, having been granted recognition, the Sybil should not be limited to the island alone.

What all this is about is the degree to which the Sybil will become or should become a form of promotion.

Are these concerns, however, not being slightly overstated? As I say, most of the practices listed by Unesco are fairly obscure. Does recognition mean, for example, that people will be rushing off to join in with the hopping in Echternach? Maybe they will. But so long as the Sybil remains true to itself, a further issue raised by Vicens, what really is the problem? That it might be promoted as an aspect of cultural heritage, as given the seal of Unesco approval, and might lead to tourists wishing to come to Mallorca to witness and hear it, then this can only be a positive. Is it not?

To be fair to Vicens, he is not against the Sybil being presented alongside the likes of Rafael Nadal in promoting Mallorca. Rather, what he does express concern about is how well tourism, and therefore the tourism industry and organisations, handle culture. He actually believes that it would be “fantastic” were the Sybil to be used as a way of getting tourists to know more about Mallorca. But he also believes that the tourism industry has little interest in cultural issues, which may come as a surprise to some of those in the industry, especially in the promotion agencies. However, he could well be right. And his words cut right to the bone of the discussion about cultural tourism. He says that “much is spoken about cultural tourism, but I believe that the term has been used a great deal but without planning or a strategy … for promoting the island”.

The words of the musicologist are music to my ears and to others who have been saying much the same thing. Where I would tend to disagree, however, is with the idea that the Sybil would be that strong a symbol, were the planning or strategy for its inclusion in promotion done well or not.

Pressures of a more global style, as he sees coming from what is unprecedented for Mallorca in having such a recognition for an aspect of its culture, might not actually come about. In a way, he is falling into the same trap as the tourism agencies, that of believing this culture has resonance in a wider market, when in fact it might not have. It is a trap laid by essentially insular thinking made global. It is thinking that goes along the lines of because it’s important to us (Mallorcans), then it will be for others. I may be wrong, but I don’t know that it will be.

Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

We Three Kings

The Christmas period is finally over. The kings arrived in the towns and ports of Mallorca on the night of the fifth, performed some adoration, distributed their presents, and yesterday was the culmination of the festive season – for another year.

Distribution of presents. Now, there’s a thing. It is typical for the kings to hack around the streets dropping of gifts for children, house by house. Well, this is how it happens in many instances, such as in Muro. Not for the Mallorcans a Santa’s grotto, the kings get out and about, put in some legwork, shielding themselves from the rain. It’s the tradition, this doling out of gifts. But is it? It’s the tradition, the kings parades, such as the one from the port in Alcúdia to the old town. But is it? If Christmas, Santa and presents were largely a Victorian invention in Britain, so the “traditions” of the kings in Mallorca are mainly a thing of the last century. There were “kings” long before, but not in the sense that they have become kings now, taking part in elaborate processions and handing out some Christmas bounty to the young of the towns.

“The Diario” ran a fascinating piece yesterday. The paper spoke to various oldsters in different towns on the island, asking them to recall what the “kings” were like when they were small, back in the 1920s and 1930s. A very different picture to today’s emerges from these memories. Not everywhere had a “kings” party or parade, far from it. One chap recalls that at home there was little by way of celebration and that he was an adult when he first witnessed a kings parade and anything like present-giving. He’s 84 now, so it would not have been until the 1940s perhaps that there was something resembling the current-day activities, and even then the gifts amounted to little more than a couple of oranges or a chocolate sweet. Others have similar recollections. A gift might have been an ensaimada, if they were lucky, or unlucky as the case may be – depends whether you like lard and sugar. Not everyone was even that lucky. Some of those spoken to don’t remember there ever being any presents.

The gifts that today’s kings hand out may still not be that grand – they don’t stretch to a Wii or a new mobile for every kid in the neighbourhood, at least one hopes not – but they are certainly more grand and there are far more of them. Which does rather beg a question. Who pays for them? The town halls presumably. There may not be the gross commercialism of Christmas in Mallorca by comparison with elsewhere, but Christmas – and the Kings – still come at a price and with a materialistic element that is in keeping with a contemporary culture, thus removed from the so-called tradition, even if this tradition is not quite as it seems.