San Antonio takes flight to the Pla in the slipstream of the demons

The bonfires are burning brighter than ever in the villages of Pla de Mallorca. While not reaching the intensity or centrality of the festival in towns like Sa Pobla, Muro, Pollença, Artà, Manacor, and throughout the Levante region of Mallorca, Sant Antoni has been recovering and reinterpreting itself in places where, for decades, it had been almost exclusively relegated to the religious sphere or to the blessed figures. All it took was blowing out the embers that had remained smoldering like a hanging fire.

Towns like Sineu, Petra, Santa Eugenia, Vilafranca, Montuïri, Porreres, María de la Salud, Lloret, San Juan, Sencelles, Ariany, and Llubí have incorporated or reinforced the traditions of bonfires, toasted bread, traditional songs, and, of course, the presence of demons in recent years. These infernal figures are promoted by groups, cultural associations, or individual residents. This revival clearly draws from the festive imagery that has been maintained or revived in the Levante region, but it nevertheless forges its own distinct identity.

In the Pla region, Sant Antoni had historically been a major festival and the centerpiece of the festive calendar, linked to the agricultural cycle and specific local celebrations. Even so, the current context of reclaiming popular culture and the desire to foster community spirit has led to the saint's figure, and above all, the demons, the traditional verses, and the fire, once again taking center stage in the streets. Not all municipalities, however, focus on Sant Antoni. Algaida, for example, celebrates Sant Honorat on January 16th, with its own deeply rooted tradition, marked by the Cossiers dances, but it is celebrated in the villages of Pina and Randa. In the town of Costitx, the presence of Sant Antoni bonfires is combined with the celebration of Saint Sebastian, on January 20th, the town's patron saint.

These are examples of how the greenhouse calendar in the Pla de Mallorca is experienced in diverse ways, but with a common denominator: the desire to reclaim spaces for gathering and celebration. Unlike other parts of Mallorca, in the Pla, the focus is less on continuity and more on conscious revival. It's not a tradition that hasn't been broken, but rather a festival that is being rebuilt and adapted to the present day; examples of this would be the Sant Abat festival in Montuiès or the Sant Antoni festival in Hospitalet de Porreres.

Thus, amidst the fire, the music and the toast, Sant Antoni takes flight in the Pla, not so much as the absolute protagonist, but as part of a festive winter that recovers collective festivals and rituals and, undoubtedly, reinforces the feeling of village, of community.