On New Year's Eve 1229, Jaume I of Aragon and his troops entered Madina Mayurqa and so ended more than 300 years of Muslim domination of Palma and Mallorca. The Festival of the Standard, the Standard of King James, is the celebration of the conquest. Centuries ago, this was one of the grandest celebrations anywhere in Europe. The current-day festival is nothing like it once was.
Attendance is high, nevertheless. And it is an occasion for mayors of Palma to deliver speeches. For the 796th anniversary, Jaime Martínez appealed to the citizens for greater involvement in building a cleaner and more civic-minded city: "Neither the town hall nor Emaya (the municipal services agency) can do everything," he said.
The mayor expressed his satisfaction with the removal of 10,000 examples of graffiti from buildings and street furniture and emphasised the increased cleaning efforts in neighourhoods, something "we must continue to focus on". "We are investing in more trucks, more street sweepers, new cleaning systems, containers and litter bins, and graffiti removal, but without the cooperation of citizens, all this effort from the administration will never be enough. The city should not be seen solely as the responsibility of those in power, but as the responsibility of everyone."
Only briefly touching on the difficulties of accessing housing, Martínez spoke about the use of artificial intelligence and the establishment of a demographic and tourism control centre to "address the challenge of the tourism and demographic models, setting aside sterile debates and unfounded opinions".
He said Palma's bid to become a European Capital of Culture in 2031 was "a collective dream". Regardless of whether it wins or not, "Palma is already a great cultural capital, open to its residents and extremely attractive to any visitor."
As to the festival itself, it was the same procedure as every year, starting at 10am with the municipal delegation carrying the Standard. Drummers, cavallet and cossier dancers, the band of music were just some who formed the procession. The interpretation of the poem 'Sa Colcada' (the Cavalcade) was a highlight as always. Written by Pere d’Alcàntara Penya in 1862, this was a poem for those who could no longer remember the cavalcade as it once was. A long time ago.