Palma Celebrates the Ceremony of the Standard

the oldest civil festivals in Europe

Every New Year's Eve the city of Palma de Mallorca celebrates the anniversary of the day in 1229 when the Christian forces of Catalan King Jaime I entered the city – the Madina Mayurqa – and reclaimed it from its Muslim rulers. The celebration is one of the oldest civil festivals in Europe and shows no signs of stopping and is a popular highlight of the holiday period.

Featuring years of tradition and heritage throughout Mallorca's history all condensed into a day, with music dancing, parades, horsemen, costumes, giants and religion. It all starts at 10.15 at the Plaza de Cort, moves to the Cathedral at 10.30 and then back to the Cort for the rest of the morning.

As you can see from the video, it's an interesting and entertaining way to spend some time in the city, though you may want to pop back to the Almudaina palace by the Cathedral at 12.00 to see the changing of the guard.

Published 29 December 2011 Stephen White.