You may or may not be aware that Tuesday was an official public holiday and “Day of the Balearic Islands”. There’s a fact floating around that Spain has more public holidays than any other country, but celebrating autonomous rule according to Estatuto de Autonomía de 1983 is as good a reason as any for a spring day out in the sunshine. Here is a photo-essay of the day by respected friend of the family Brian Beezwax (yes it’s his real name). After much wrangling over editing and colour correction we finally managed to get him to hand over 9 pictures.
Like many nice days in Ibiza it started with Hierbas Ibicenca at the Mari Mayans factory, where Oompa Loompa types go about making that sickly sweet liquid which is to be ‘enjoyed’ as a digestive after evening meals.
Where there’s booze there must be authority! Notice smug self-satisfaction of these droogs, having used their hi-vis rave jackets to justify jumping the queue of thousands to get at the paella first.
And there it is. The behemoth itself, a paella to feed a thousand, and according to outrage in local newspapers there wasn’t even enough to go around. Never disappoint an Ibicenco with lack of paella.
He may well set one of these Podenco Ibicenco hounds upon you. They roam wild in packs and are also used for hunting rabbit throughout the South West and North of the island.
It’s believed they have evolved from ancient Egyptian hunting breeds. According to folklore it is bad luck to kill an unwanted Podenco, so instead they are let loose on the other side of the island so that someone else might adopt them, which is probably the reason for the marauding packs of wild dogs.
The festivities moved to the San Rafael Hippodrome (like Ascot without the hats) after Brian was denied any paella and infuriated by a giant sandwich which was in fact just many smaller sandwiches put together.
The system of betting is unusual in Ibiza, it takes place in denominations of €1.20 and punters are unaware of the odds until the race is over. Brian reckons he won €22.
This form of harness racing conforms to a standard whereby the horses are only allowed to trot, leading to disqualifications for horses trying to go too fast – another mind-boggling aspect to the day.
Lucky number seven, Brian gets his €22 and everyone goes home happy. Thanks Balearic day, see you next year.
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