Mallorca Dia de les Balears Review
Palma turned into a hive of activity by La Llonja and Parc de la Mar
People all over Mallorca enjoyed a three day weekend to celebrate Friday’s public holiday “Dia de les Balears” the ‘Day of the Balearics’. As the capital of the largest of the Balearic Islands, Palma hosted the bulk of the events which attracted huge crowds over the three days.
Some of the most popular events were the open doors days to allow members of the public to take a nosey around the parliament, consulate of the sea and fish market buildings. A correfoc was held on Friday night as well as gigs in Passeig de Borne and no Mallorcan festival would be complete without a market selling a vast array of food and trinkets.
Our favourite activity this weekend was sauntering around the stalls, along with thousands of others, which were set up in La Llonja and over towards Parc de la Mar. Fortunately the weather was fantastic this weekend and we felt as if spring had arrived, a welcome change from last weeks storms. There were many stalls selling the usual cold meats and cheese but I felt this market was quite different from the usual weekend market you see in the towns across Mallorca. There were stall selling freshly baked bread, right from the huge stone ovens they managed to shift to their stalls and others had pastries and tarts that wouldn’t go a miss on the British Bake Off.
Each market was divided into themes, the first we walked through was the Mercat Mariner, the marine market, despite not selling many fishy or sailor knickknacks each seller donned a sailor hat. The themes were more apparent as we passed through into the Mercat Medival as the outfits were far more flamboyant and suitably Medieval as well as the overhead decorations. Here we found a selection of home made soaps, herbal teas and essential oils.
However much we enjoy looking at all the souvenirs you can buy, one of our personal favourites and one that we would highly recommend was the food market in Parc de sa Faxina, near the seafront. Every step through here were tantalising smells of food from all over Spain. Here was a perfect opportunity to take a whistle stop tour of food from across Spain, not forgetting Galician Octopus and Basque pintxos. This was definitely one to go to with a big appetite as you could pick up tapas for a couple of Euros at each stall and made for a great Sunday lunch. Although if you were looking for a more substantial meal there were huge BBQs and a slow, spit roasted pig that made it’s way to the flames at 9am in order to be ready for the lunchtime rush.
As we stuffed our faces with delights from the market stalls we were put to shame by some 2000 runners who took part in this years ‘Cursa per a la Dona’, Race for Women, a 3km and 10km race from Parc de la Mar. The race was held in order to raise money for the Red Cross Illes Balears to encourage young women to take part in sports.
Throughout the weekend there were plenty of activities to enjoy and all in all we enjoyed our experience here. The market stalls are always worth a gander to see if there is a souvenir to take back to friends and family or even just to enjoy the smells and tastes of local food and drink.
