Festivals in Sant Joan de Ciutadella
The Sant Joan festivities make Ciutadella de Menorca the starting point of the island's equestrian festival calendar. Decorated horses, caixers, fabiol and drum music and a protocol handed down for generations articulate a patron saint celebration that occupies the streets, squares and roads of the municipality.
Date and duration
The central days are 23 and el 24 June. The cycle begins the previous Sunday with the Dia des Be, whose date changes every year according to the calendar. The programme includes previous and subsequent acts, but those three moments form the traditional core.
24 June can be a local holiday when approved by the municipal work calendar. The full celebration does not automatically turn all your days into non-working days.
El Dia des Be
The Sunday before Sant Joan, the procession goes through Ciutadella to announce the festival. His most recognisable figure is s'Homo des Be, a barefoot man covered in fur carrying a lamb on his shoulders. He is accompanied by the caixers and the fabioler, who guides the tour with a drum and fabiol.
The day presents those who will carry out the main positions and connects the preparations with the equestrian protocol of the 23rd and 24th.
Caixers, cavallers y fabioler
La qualcada It brings together the riders and represents different historical groups of Ciutadellenca society. The caixer capellà represents the Church; the caixer senyor, to the nobility; the caixers pagesos, to the field; and the artisans are represented by the caixer casat and the caixer fadrí. The fabioler opens and guides the procession mounted on a donkey.
The Menorcan horses, decorated for the occasion, are not a decorative element: they participate in courses, caragols and games of skill subject to specific rules and responsibilities.
Main events of 23 June and 24
- Caragol des Born: entry and turns of the riders through the Plaça des Born on the afternoon of the 23rd.
- Sant Joan de Missa: Movement of the procession to the rural hermitage linked to the religious origin of the festival.
- Guerra de avellanas: popular tradition celebrated during the eve.
- Jocs des Pla: equestrian tests on the 24th, including stringing rings, breaking carots and running with arms around each other.
- Caragols y jaleos: routes in which horses and caixers interact with the festive space and the public.
Origin and spaces of the festival
The Menorca tourist portal dates back to the beginning of the 14th century and links it to the ancient workers who went on horseback to Sant Joan de Missa to honour the patron saint. Over time, the celebration incorporated the social protocol, urban tours and equestrian games that characterize it today.
The Plaça des Born, the historic centre, the path and the hermitage of Sant Joan de Missa and the Pla de Sant Joan are essential spaces. The large influx requires consulting the municipal mobility, safety and participation regulations every year.
An emblematic festival of the Balearic Islands
Tourism of the Balearic Islands presents Sant Joan de Ciutadella as one of the most emblematic, spectacular and participatory popular festivals of the archipelago. This cultural relevance should not be confused with a declaration of a Festival of National Tourist Interest: the card is based on its Balearic tradition and institutional recognition, not on a category that does not appear for this celebration.
Sources
Municipal festivals
Also check out the festivals of Ciutadella de Menorca.