From Elx to Manacor. The curious round trip of the 'palm branches of Palm Sunday'

PalmaGardening has marked the life of the Navarro family. Originally from Elche, Antonio Navarro Macià received in 1910 one of the commissions that would mark his life and force him to move to Mallorca. That was the year in which Palma City Council decided, in a race against time, to definitively activate the construction of the Passeig Sagrera, with the aim of enhancing the route leading to La Llotja, coinciding with the celebration of the Balearic Products Exhibition, in the early 20th century.

The intention, already planned in 1903, was the creation of a boulevard that would connect the route near the gardens of La Seu and the masterpiece of the architect Guillem Sagrera. Using for this the symbolism of the palm tree, already present both on the esplanade of Plaça de la Llotja and on the helical columns inside the medieval building.

So the council decided to call an expert from the city with more palm trees in Europe. “It’s curious how three generations of the same family have been in charge of the three sections in which the promenade has been built over the years,” explains Antonio Navarro (Manacor, 1972), grandson of the first and son of Felipe Navarro, who was later also hired to supply and plant the 118 palm trees that were placed when the promenade was inaugurated, in 1958, “shipped from the port of Alicante, each cost 1,200 pesetas, plus 125,000 for transport,” adds Antonio, who as a child retraced his grandfather’s path and resettled in Elche.

And what does this have to do with Easter?Easy: the date palm trees and the family profession, always mixed with craftsmanship, have meant that throughout all this time the emigrant from Manacor has returned to the island every year to sell one of the most demanded and special processed products from the tree: the ‘paumes’.

Handmade pieces that this Sunday will bring children and families to the blessing of Palm Sunday, the start of Easter. A craftsmanship that begins by selecting the central fronds of each palm tree, those that, by being ‘hidden’ behind others, “could not photosynthesize and remain more whitish”.

A selection process that is immediately followed by washing off impurities. The moment when the leaves are submerged for 24 hours in chlorinated water, in order to obtain an even clearer product; which is then left to dry in airtight chambers with sulfur. A process that usually begins in September “when the sun and heat are not so strong”.

Antonio Navarro's family business has been distributing and selling 'paumes' worked with different degrees of profusion throughout the island for decades: from Pollença to Manacor, where every year he rents a shop for two weeks on Avenida del Tren, where he sells 'espiga' palms (the simplest), 'dues bolles', 'quatre estrelles', 'llises' or 'llises amb dibuix', appliqués and other specials named after those who started the 'Sara' or 'Noelia' model.

“Outside of Palm Sunday it is complicated to sell them. Sometimes they ask us for processions, for El Rocío or for appliqués or weddings in Elx, where this craft is more established”, points out Natalia Morán, who helps Antonio for a few days at the shop open in Manacor. “Now we have to work twice as hard to earn half as much”, concludes Navarro when asked about sales: “We are surviving, but because we also do other things. Every year it is a little less…”

From Elche, with loveAlso in Manacor, Pedro Llinàs ‘Peric’ and his eldest son Pedro José, are selling the last ‘paumes’ they have left in a rented stall in the Plaça de ses Verdures, in the city center. For two weeks they have moved their headquarters here, normally located at their home, at Carrer de la Creu number 11.

“We have been working day and night for a month so that no one here is left without, so that it is noticeable that it is Easter,” says ‘Peric’, while recalling that his skill with this raw material comes from when, as a young man, “I fell in love with a girl from Elche, who taught me how they were made in case I ever needed it to live,” he explains, amused at 91 years old.

“We have worked with palm leaves all our lives. It is a tradition that was taught to me and that I have tried to pass on to my children, because I believe it is already a Mallorcan tradition and we must not let it be lost,” he claims with various models in both hands and while commenting on how the palm leaves are chosen and what the treatment process is, until reaching the final result.