Festivals in Menorca

Menorca, Spain

Menorca is the north, and east most, island in the Balearics. While it is the second largest island, it is quieter and has far less tourists then Mallorca or Ibiza.

After pounding our way to the north of Mallorca, we waited for calmer seas before heading to Menorca. As a result we hade little wind and motor sailed the 60 NM North East to Cala Saura on the south side of the island.

We had heard that Maó (Mahon) had a large festival in early September, so we worked our way east along the south side of the island, staying at some of the most beautiful calas (coves) in the Balearics. Many of the calas in Menorca are small, thin and surrounded by high cliffs.

We arrived in Maó a couple of days before the festival and rented a car to tour the island from the land. While only 26 miles long and 11 miles wide we managed to fill a day stopping in Ciudadela, Mounte Turo, Cabo Cavalieria and Fornells, enjoying the beautiful views from the mountains and along the northern coast.

We also managed a stop at the cheese factory (code for large smelly farm) and a winery.

We have consistently heard, from other Americans, that there are very few US boats in the Mediterranean. So far, this hasn’t been the case for us. We arrived in the anchorage outside of Maó to find two American flagged boats. Unfortunately, most of the US boats that we have run across are headed west, across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, so while it is great to meet fellow American cruisers, we won’t be seeing them again anytime soon.

The Mare de Deu de Gràcia Festival is the highlight of Maó’s festival calendar and marks the end of the summer. It is based on long-held traditions that were difficult to understand. We were in Maó dropping off the rental car as the parade of “giants”, one of the first events in the festival, worked their way through the streets.

The second, and third, days of the festival are focused on Menorca’s unique horses. Riders ride the horses through streets and plazas filled with people, encouraging the horses to rear up on their hind legs. The brave and those who have had too much of the local gin. can be found running underneath to touch their heart of the horses as they rear up. Mary and I joined in the fun, sampling some of the local Pamada (a gin and lemon slush) and eventually built up the courage to touch the horses. Supposedly, this act will bring us good luck. It was so exciting, we went back the next day of the festival with a group of cruisers to do it again.

The pictures and video cannot capture the energy, excitement and danger, as the horses moved through crowds, rearing up on there hind legs.

After a couple days at the festival, it was time to start working our way to Barcelona (Who says we don’t have a schedule?). The wind and waves were up, and coming out of the north, so we worked our way back along the southern coast stopping in our favorite calas before jumping off to Barcelona.

As we traveled, we noticed a few changes and were not sure if they were related to being in Menorca, or that it was September:

The crowds of vacationers were gone, most of the people were back at work and less people came to Menorca, making the calas less crowed and in some cases, we were the only boat.

The temperature had dropped. It was cooler (not cold, but not sweltering hot), and we started to sleep with covers and shower with warm water.

The water had cooled down. The freezer was not working as hard and snorkeling around the boat was chilly.

As we spent our last night in the Balearic Islands, we had a feeling that our adventure was moving to a new phase. We had spent the last five months working our way across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Strait of Gibraltar, along the coast of Spain and through the Balearic Islands, with the objective of reaching Barcelona. Now that goal was in sight and Berkeley East was going to be in a marina, while we toured Spain and waited for winter to pass.