In Muro on Wednesday there will be fireworks to mark the end of the Sant Joan Fiestas. Normally, people would gather at Sa Riba, but this year they won't. The fireworks will be let off from the belltower. Capacity in the church and town hall square will be limited.
The programmes are reduced, very reduced. For Sant Pere in Puerto Alcudia there will be no fireworks. There will be no procession with the image of Saint Peter and no flotilla. The sardine barbecue and the Havaneres songs have gone from the fishermen's pier, as they have gone in Puerto Pollensa, where Sant Pere was cancelled some weeks ago.
The latest victims of the reduced programmes are Pollensa's cossier dancers. They will not be performing for La Patrona at the end of July, start of August. Over a month ago, the town hall said that it was ruling out there being a Moors and Christians battle this year but that it was looking at how best the fiestas could be staged.
Pollensa is one of a number of town halls which have not signed an agreement with the Felib federation of town halls regarding fiesta events that attract large numbers of people from outside their respective municipalities. This doesn't mean that Pollensa won't be signing the agreement or that it intends holding such events - the Moors and Christians is one of these. Sa Pobla and Santa Margalida haven't signed either, but it could just be that they are waiting to see what developments there are. For Santa Margalida, its biggest fiesta events of the year are in Can Picafort on the national holiday of August 15 - the duck swim and the fireworks - and in the town on the first Sunday of September, the procession of La Beata.
In Sa Pobla, where the fiestas of Santa Margalida and Sant Jaume coincide in July, it has been announced that the jazz festival will definitely be going ahead. It will start on July 27, two days after the Sant Jaume feast day, and run for a month. A programme adjusted to current circumstances is being worked on, so details are yet to be announced. One suspects that the festival will have to dispense with its international artists this year.
While there will doubtless still be restrictions at the end of July, open-air concerts are rather easier to control and organise than some other events. And in this respect, Pollensa and Puerto Pollensa have a real treat in store tomorrow. In celebration of World Music Day, there will be concerts in various locations. The music genres will be varied, and featured among the artists are some very well-known names from the local scene, such as the blues band Big Yuyu, who will be performing in Puerto Pollensa's church square tomorrow evening. Hats off to Pollensa town hall for having organised what is a very comprehensive programme.
Tourism - a sign of the times
On Thursday, Pollensa town hall posted on its Facebook page to say that following the arrival of the test tourists from Germany, the first tourists of the summer had been in touch with the tourist information offices to find out about the most emblematic places to visit in Pollensa. They'd been in touch by phone and in person!
These were probably the tourists who have been arriving in Puerto Alcudia and are staying at the Alcudia Garden and Viva Golf. There haven't been many of these tourists. Alcudia Garden took in twelve on Monday, and by Thursday the two hotels had a total of 62. There should have been 68 arriving on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the mix-up over authorisation for flights from Germany meant that there weren't. Over this weekend, around 200 tourists will be arriving.
Fines for Pollensa councillors
At Wednesday's council meeting in Pollensa, the town hall secretary gave information regarding the fines that await the mayor and councillors if nothing gets sorted out about the Cami de Ternelles within the six month period that that the Balearic High Court has imposed.
The fines will be of 1,000 or 2,000 euros per month. The town hall has six months to eliminate the right of way along the Cami de Ternelles from its general urban plan. This is in order to adjust the plan in accordance with what the regional government's PORN plan for the organisation of natural resources in the Tramuntana currently stipulates.
All parties at the town hall agree that it is an absurdity that there should be fines and that everything should be done to prevent them. It's said that because of the way these things work, six months isn't long enough but that there is an additional factor which complicates the situation. The town hall doesn't apparently have the competence to make the adjustment that the court has demanded; the Council of Majorca does.
The solution to all this is for the government to amend PORN, something that it has been saying it will do almost since the current left-wing pact came into government in 2015. The amendment would allow hiking in the two exclusion zones of Castell dei Rei and Cala Castell. The government is being urged to pull its finger out.
The sustainable bus depot of Alcudia
The Ca Na Lloreta industrial estate in Alcudia, for years without anything in it, is now growing, and the latest development is a bus depot.
On Tuesday, the first stone was laid for housing some of the new fleet of buses for the revised network in Majorca. The Ruiz Group will be operating the concession for the North Zone, and one of the bases for this is in Alcudia. There will be six garages in all for the network. Alcudia will have 58 of the 223 new "sustainable energy" buses.
The facility on the industrial estate will include fast-charging pumps for compressed natural gas, a photovoltaic solar energy collection system and a wash with reusable water.
BUGER, Sant Pere Fiestas
Saturday, 20 June
· 20.00: Opera and zarzuela - Antoni Lliteres (tenor), Andreu Riera (piano). Sant Pere Church.
Monday, 22 June
· 15.00: Raising of the banner and ringing of bells. 20.00: Pregón opening address. Placeta Glòria.
Tuesday, 23 June
· 20.00: Poetry and classical music. Placeta Glòria.
Saturday, 27 June
· 21.30: Playback contest. C. Major.
Sunday, 28 June
· 22.30: Music and dance with Orquestra Galatzó. C. Major.
Monday, 29 June
· 10.30: Procession with pipers. 11.30: Solemn mass. 18.30: "Jewel" races. 19.30: Children's entertainment. 22.00: Party and Màgic Cloquell. C. Major.
MURO, Sant Joan Fiestas
Saturday, 20 June
· 20.00: Concert - Unió Artística Murera Band of Music. Escola Graduada. Free. 22.00: Concert - Cris Juanico. Convent Cloister. Five euros. Tickets from ticketib.com.
Sunday, 21 June
· 22.00: Concert - Nafas Ensemble. Convent Cloister. Ten euros in advance; 15 euros on the door. Tickets from ticketib.com.
Monday, 22 June
· 21.00: Playback contest. Plaça Comte d'Empúries.
Tuesday, 23 June
· 20.00: Act in recognition of all collaborators during the Covid crisis. Plaça Comte d'Empúries. 22.00: Night of monologues. Convent Cloister. Five euros; ticketib.com.
Wednesday, 24 June
· 11.00: Mass for John the Baptist. 12.00: Dance of bigheads. By the church. 22.00 : Theatre. Plaça Comte d'Empúries. 24.00: FIREWORKS. From the belltower.
POLLENSA / PUERTO POLLENSA
World Music Day Sunday, 21 June
· Pollensa, Joan March Gardens - 20.00: Poli Wants A Cracker; 21.30: Hombre Lobo International.
· Pollensa, Plaça Almoina - 21.00: Sinead & Friends; 22.00: Les Funambules.
· Pollensa, Plaça Ca les Monnares - 11.30: Nil Torres; 12.30: El Zurdo; 20.30: Fame and the Flames.
· Pollensa, Plaça Major - 11.00: Puck Organ Trio; 13.00: Disaster Trio; 19.00: Forró do Pulpo; 20.00: Pep Garau Quintet; 21.00: One Man Rocks; 22.00: Manteca Latin Project.
· Pollensa, Plaça Monument - 21.30: Jive Jam.
· Pollensa, Plaça Seglars - 19.00: De Txamba Na; 20.30: Victor Uris Trio.
· Pollensa, Plaça Vella - 19.30: Ballugall.
· Puerto Pollensa, Passeig Anglada Camarassa - 19.00: Taco's Fas; 20.00: Julie & Pep Toni; 20.30: Jaume Mas and Miki Rotger.
· Puerto Pollensa, Plaça Miquel Capllonch - 21.00: Big Yuyu.
PUERTO ALCUDIA, Sant Pere Fiestas
Wednesday, 24 June
· 19.30: Alcudia Radio anniversary - annual walk from Es Clot beach to the old town and on to the Paseo Marítimo.
Thursday, 25 June
· 18.00 / 20.00 / 22.00: Circ Bover - open-air circus. Paseo Maritimo.
Friday, 26 June
· 18.00 / 20.00 / 22.00: Circ Bover - open-air circus. Paseo Maritimo.
Saturday, 27 June
· 22.30: Concert - Cris Juanico. Moll Vell / C. Gabriel Roca.
Sunday, 28 June
· 22.30: Theatre. Moll Vell / C. Gabriel Roca.
Monday, 29 June
· 22.30: Comedy night - Xavi Canyelles and Agustín Martínez (El Casta). Moll Vell / C. Gabriel Roca.