Saint John explodes in Ciutadella with a first massive touch

PalmThe festival has already broken out in Ciutadella. The first call once again marked this Tuesday the official start of the Sant Joan festivities with a packed Cathedral square and thousands of people waiting for one of the most anticipated rituals of the Menorcan calendar. The contained emotion of the previous hours turned into euphoria when the piper, Sebastià Salort, made his usual tour through the streets of the historic center until he reached the stately home of the Olivar Despujol family, the starting point of a tradition that mobilizes the entire city every year.

Mounted on his donkey and with the flute and drum setting the rhythm, Salort advanced to applause, glances, and phones held high. Once in place, he dismounted and asked permission from the lord treasurer, Ignasi Saura, to begin the gathering of the 89 horses that are part of this year's procession.

The seemingly simple gesture once again activated the symbolic mechanism of the festival: the collection of the knights, the preparation of the Caragol, and the start of two days that transform Ciutadella into the festive epicenter of Menorca.

According to the planned capacity, nearly 9,000 people have followed the first "toc" from Plaça de la Catedral, while thousands more have done so via the giant screen installed in Plaça Nova. The city has been immersed from the outset in an atmosphere of warmth, expectation, and reunion, with full streets and mobility conditioned by the avalanche of visitors.

With the gathering already complete, the "caixer senyor" made his galloping entrance into the Caragol del Born, the most anticipated moment of this first day and also the most crowded. Plaça del Born, secured with a reinforced security detail and also monitored by drones, has once again become the central stage of the festival, with a maximum capacity set at 27,600 people.

By midday, the Local Police Coordination Center (Cecopal) had already been activated, from where an operation of a thousand personnel has been directed, including police officers, health services, Civil Protection, and other security forces. The head of the Local Police, Diego Pastrana, highlighted the coordination "like clockwork" of a deployment that ensures the celebration proceeds normally.

The mayor of Ciutadella, Maria Jesús Bagur, also wanted to thank the work of the deployed teams and assured that the municipality has arrived prepared for one of the most demanding and emblematic events of the year.

With the first "toc" already accomplished and the first major "caragol" experienced, Sant Joan has once again set Ciutadella in motion. Now, the city embarks on the most intense hours of a festival that combines ritual, emotion, and crowds.

Two injured during the Caragol del Born

The first Caragol del Born of the Sant Joan festivities has left two injured after different incidents during the jaleo in Ciutadella. One suffered serious injuries and the other minor ones, as confirmed by emergency services. Both were attended to and transferred to the hospital on a day marked by a high attendance of the public and a strong security deployment.