How Mallorca's Villages Bid Farewell to Summer

Just a week ago, at dusk on 23 August, the streets of Montuïri were closed to traffic and the whole village crowded into the Plaça Major. At half past six on the dot — not a minute earlier, not a minute later, because that's a tradition nobody breaks — out came the Cossiers: six dancers dressed in white with layered coloured skirts, a lady, and a demon called Banya Verda ("Green Horn") who chases the local children through the streets amid laughter and shrieks. The xeremiers, traditional Mallorcan bagpipers, played the customary tune as the group danced in front of the rectory, on their way to the church for the Completes of the Sant Bartomeu eve celebrations.

This is no performance staged for tourists. It's the very same dance that has been performed in Montuïri since at least 1750 — 276 years of documented history this year — and which was declared an asset of cultural interest in 2018. The following day, 24 August, the main day of the festival, the whole village returned to the square for the corregudes de cintes i joies (ribbon-and-prize races), and that same night came a sopar a la fresca: a communal open-air supper in the street, with long tables, pa amb oli, grilled sobrassada, a slice of almond gató for pudding, and local wine, all the way through to the traca — a long string of firecrackers — that brought the festivities to a close.

A Calendar Out of Step with the Coast

While the coast lives through its busiest week of the summer, inland Mallorca follows an entirely different calendar, one set by each village's own patron saint. Around these dates, Sineu and Campos celebrate their Mare de Déu d'Agost; Alaró and Porreres mark Sant Roc; Consell holds its own version of Sant Bartomeu, complete with "la Capta", a pregó (opening speech) and a correfoc (fire-run); and Llucmajor honours Santa Càndida. None of these festivals feature in any beach holiday guide, because they were never designed for a visitor passing through for a week — they're designed for the neighbour who lives there. That shows in everything, from the timing (things start once the heat has eased off, not before) to the fact that most of the programme is organised by the villagers themselves, not by an events company.

What You Miss If You Only Know the Coast

Someone who rents a beachfront flat every August and heads home in September takes away memories of sand, coves and sunsets. Someone who lives year-round in one of these villages on the Pla de Mallorca takes away something else entirely: they know which night the verbena (open-air dance) falls on, what time it's wise to park outside the old town, and which family has spent generations making the coca de trampó sold at the market. It's a way of living on the island that has little to do with peak season, and one that can only truly be discovered from the inside.

We touched on something similar when we visited Pollença on a market Sunday: that same sense that the real life of a Mallorcan village runs to its own rhythm, quite apart from the tourist season. The same holds true in an urban setting in our article on Palma's neighbourhoods with soul: village or city, what people who genuinely settle here are looking for is this — not the postcard.

If this way of experiencing Mallorca appeals to you more than a beachfront address, our featured properties section includes options in inland villages, and our buyer service can help you work out which one suits what you're looking for.

For anyone who'd like to relive this year's festival in more detail and with photos, Última Hora covered the eve of Sant Bartomeu in Montuïri, and Illes Balears Travel explains the origins of the Cossiers in greater depth.