La Menorquina has discontinued Punky, one of the most historic and famous ice creams in the Balearic Islands, a brand that has marked the childhood of many generations. This is yet another example of the loss of traditional products and elements that the archipelago has been gradually losing in recent years. After Laccao's farewellas a Mallorcan product, to become 100% CatalanNow Punky disappears too.

Little by little, without much noise, traditional cuisine of the Balearic Islands It's fading away. It's not happening for a single reason or overnight, but as a consequence of a profound change in how we live, eat, and relate to time. Globalization, the culture of immediacy, and a fast-paced diet have been displacing a cuisine that requires slow cooking, patience, and oral tradition. This has led to the disappearance of part of the culinary vocabulary and linguistic heritage that has defined the cultural identity of the Balearic Islands for centuries. Words that once circulated naturally in the islands' kitchens are increasingly unfamiliar to younger generations, reflecting how the disappearance of traditional dishes is accompanied by the loss of language and cultural knowledge.

Like an ancient sibyl, 93-year-old Maria Capó Navarro concentrates and begins to sing one of the tunes from her youth, when she worked on the family farm in Sóller. It's her way of evoking a world of connection to the land and precise words that vanished with the boom A tourist attraction in the 1960s. The first person to hear that same tune live 74 years ago was the American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. "In 1952," he says, "he saw me perform at an international folklore competition held in the Palma bullring. I sang with my village group, Los Danzadores del Baile de Oro (The Dancers of the Golden Dance). We were one of the prize winners. Apparently, my family liked it a lot and asked to come. I was the only doll." Capó remembers that visit perfectly. "The sun was blazing, and Lomax arrived hunched over and sweltering. He took out his tape recorder and recorded the moment when my father, my grandfather, and I were singing while we threshed grain on the threshing floor with a sledgehammer. He must not have understood a thing. He only knew a little Spanish."

Saint Anthony is the patron saint of animals and, by extension, of farmers. Muro is the town that most proudly celebrates this status of the bearded saint on his feast day (January 17). They do so with elaborate and well-attended blessings, which are the culmination of the great winter festival of the Part Forana region, celebrated with traditional songs, tambourines, and bonfires. Now, the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca) has declared these celebrations an Intangible Cultural Heritage Asset (BIC). Their history can be followed in the book recently published by researcher Damià Payeras Capó, entitled Saint Anthony, popular devotion and festival in Muro. "There is documentary evidence," he says, "that these celebrations have been held in the municipality since the 18th century, although they are surely older. It was the time when all the farmers adorned their altars and took them to be blessed to ensure that they would be protected throughout the year."

The Council of Mallorca, through the Mallorca Literary Foundation, presented this Monday Mallorcaoral.catA digital portal integrating the Oral Archive, the Songbook, and the Traditional Collection of Mallorca aims to preserve, disseminate, and promote the island's oral heritage. The initiative was born from the desire to demonstrate that popular culture is a living organism, constantly evolving, yet deeply rooted in collective memory.

Names that for decades had defined the identity of the Balearic Islands—such as Tomeu, Sebastià, Joana, and Francisca—have practically disappeared in recent years. Statistics published by the Balearic Islands Statistics Institute (Ibestat) confirm a profound shift in family preferences, with families increasingly opting for names commonly used in the rest of Spain, such as Sofía, Martina, and Hugo, among others. This change reflects not only the impact of trends and globalization but also a gradual distancing from the traditional repertoire that had once defined the islands. the onomastic landscape of the Islands

The Mallorcan idioms and popular sayingsExpressions that for centuries have served to transmit wisdom, humor, and identity are losing ground among new generations. Expressions like "whoever goes with a pillow, after a year they both are" or "little by little and with good handwriting" sound increasingly distant in a context dominated by globalization and social media.

The song of the Sibil·la, the human towers, the mystery of Elche, the fallas of Valencia, the Patum of Berga, and other cultural manifestations of the Catalan-speaking lands are Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Notably absent from this list is the Pitiusan song. For the moment, the island's institutions have not taken the step of requesting its protection. Ibizan sociolinguist Bernat Joan has the explanation: "Here, traditional dance is a BIC (Asset of Cultural Interest). It has always been given more visibility because it is a much more innocuous manifestation. The song, on the other hand, is related to the language and, therefore, is a symbol of identity for a Catalan-speaking community."

The four of them take the stage. First, Cristian Tur and Pere Serra Gallet start playing the drums and flutes; then, Genoveva Tur makes a uc, while Maria José Cardona picks up a horn, blows it, and announces: "There's a jarrito!" Up to this point, everything is normal (relatively normal, because, jarrillo, I didn't see it). Then, Maria José Cardona presses a button on a console in front of her and an electronic bass line begins to play. And that's the end of normality.