Counting the days to go….

There is no date more important for a Menorca local living in Ciutadella than St John’s Day. In fact, the turning point of the year here is the 24^th of June and we count the days to go to be able to hold this religious and solemn festival that has converted the veneration of the saint into a popular event, in which the Menorca horse has taken on a leading role. The city of the nobility and the palaces gets ready every year so that the explosion of good cheer will be remembered forever.

The preparation for the chivalric and religious event is connected to the vestments, with the training of the jockey throughout the year as well as the meetings in which they choose the main players who will represent Menorca society during the festival. The choice of the Caixer Senyor (a nobleman) who will be in charge of presiding over the events, that of the Caixer Casat (the married one), who protects the flag throughout the celebration and who must have it on show in his house, the Caixer Fadrí (the single one), represented by a farmer or someone with a trade who has not married, the Caixer Pagès (the farmer), who comes to represent the farming community and who organises the parade and finally the Caixer Capellà (the priest) who is the representative of the clergy.

Considering that every Saint John’s Day more than one hundred horses take part, each jockey spends time training every day and preparing the steed so that at the decisive moment it is able to leap in time with the music and not be affected by the surrounding mass of people. Alongside the horse is also the lamb which symbolises the allegory of Saint John the Baptist himself and which leads to a veneration during the 24 hours prior to the 23 June in which the animal is washed and fasted so that it really stands out the next day.

Finally, every house and home must be prepared to welcome guests and friends who during the Saint John festivals will come to share the joy. Of course there will be the gin and lemonade as well as a good look through the Menorca cookbook to prepare succulent dishes ready to eat.