Sant Antoni: why the villages light bonfires in January

A desert hermit and his devils

Sant Antoni Abat, Saint Anthony the Abbot, was a hermit who lived in the Egyptian desert in the third and fourth centuries. Tradition says the devil tempted him again and again, and he resisted every time. In the Christian calendar his feast day is 17 January, and over the centuries he became the patron saint of farm animals, especially the pigs that families raised for the winter slaughter.

Those two ideas shape the Mallorcan fiesta. The devils that tormented him come out as dimonis, masked figures who dance and play around the fires. The animals are blessed outside the church on his feast day. In between, in the coldest week of the year, whole towns gather in the street around a bonfire.

Revetla

The eve of the feast, the night of 16 January, when the fires are lit.

Fogueró

A bonfire built in a street or square, often by neighbours or a group of friends.

Dimonis

Devils: masked dancers in devil costumes who play and dance around the fires.

Ximbomba

A friction drum played to accompany songs around the fires.

Gloses

Sung verses, often improvised, that tell the saint’s story or comment on local life.

Beneïdes

The blessing of animals on 17 January.

Sa Pobla: the biggest night

In Sa Pobla, whose parish church is dedicated to Sant Antoni, this is the main fiesta of the year. It is documented here since 1365 and was declared of tourist interest in 1966. On the evening of the 16th the devils come out, and hundreds of bonfires are lit in streets and squares across the town. Groups go from fire to fire, singing to the ximbomba and eating espinagades, pasties that in Sa Pobla are traditionally filled with eel and greens. Thousands of visitors come, and the town’s museum of Sant Antoni and the devil is in the old house of Can Planes.

Artà, Manacor, Pollença and Muro

Each town has its own version, and locals take the differences seriously.

• Artà: on the 16th a procession collects gifts for the saint through the town, and bonfires are lit in the evening; the town asks people not to light them before the set time. On the 17th horses, tractors and trailers parade through the streets, and the animals are blessed in front of the town hall.
• Manacor: Sant Antoni is the town’s best-loved festival, with bonfires, devils and popular music over the 16th and 17th.
• Pollença: on the 17th a tall pine brought from the Ternelles estate is set up in the Plaça Vella, and people from the town try to climb it.
• Muro: bonfires and devils on the eve, and a blessing of animals on the feast day.

Many other towns light fires too, and in Palma the barris hold their own grills on the night of the 16th. Palma’s blessing of animals traditionally ends at the small church of Sant Antoniet on Carrer de Sant Miquel, in the northern old town.

The blessing of the animals

On the 17th, owners bring horses, farm animals, dogs, cats and caged birds to be sprinkled with holy water. In the farming towns there are still working animals, decorated carts and tractors. Elsewhere it is mostly family pets. If you have a dog and want to meet your neighbours, there are few better mornings.

What it tells you about village life

Sant Antoni is a good test of what living in a Mallorcan town is like. The fires are organised by neighbours, friends and local associations, the food is shared, and everyone is in the street at once. Newcomers who join in usually find it the easiest way to get to know people.

• 17 January is a local holiday in many towns. In 2024 that included Sa Pobla, Manacor, Muro and Pollença, but not Palma. Each town hall sets its own dates each year.
• Expect smoke, music late into the night and streets closed to traffic in the town centre on the 16th and 17th.
• If you buy a townhouse on a square or main street, ask the neighbours whether a fire is traditionally built outside your door.
• Pets and fireworks don’t mix. Keep animals indoors on the night of the devils.

If you are weighing up a town such as Sa Pobla, Artà or Manacor, a visit on 16 January shows you its character at full volume. A few days later Palma has its own winter fiesta, Sant Sebastià, around 20 January.

Areas in this post

Sa Pobla town · Artà town · Manacor city