The Patron Saint of Pollença 2026: the battle that continues when the swords fall silent
The Pollença festival is also everything that happens afterwards: shared emotions, memories, collective participation, which allow a centuries-old tradition to remain alive
Pollença“Only one defeat can be sadder than a victory: the survivors cry for those who will be absent forever, others scream in pain [...] Then come the other heroes who pick up the trash and clean the streets of urine and plastic cups”.
The gaze of historian Pere Salas invites us to understand the Patrona de Pollença beyond combat. The festival does not end when the symbolic weapons stop sounding or when the simulacrum reaches its conclusion. The Patrona is also everything that happens afterwards: shared emotions, memories, collective participation, and the small gestures that allow a centuries-old tradition to remain alive.
This is precisely the idea that inspires the Patrona 2026: to look at the festival from the landscape that remains after the battle, from the emotional and social consequences of one of Mallorca's great collective rituals.
Because the Patrona is not just a historical recreation. It is a celebration that each year brings memory and present, tradition and change, identity and participation back into dialogue.
Although the official start of the festivities will be on July 26, Santa Aina's day, this year's program will advance by one day with a prior activity: the revetla on the 25th in Plaça Major, with a performance by Avalanx.
The group will offer a musical proposal that combines acoustic instruments – saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and percussion – with electronic elements such as keyboards, guitar, bass, and electronic percussion. A fusion designed to transform great hits of electronic dance music into new versions and original creations.
Thus, the Patrona once again shows one of its main characteristics: the ability to incorporate new languages without losing its connection to its essence.
A battle made of many moments
The Moors and Christians re-enactment is not a single combat. Its strength lies precisely in the set of all the scenes that form it. Victory is not decided in a single instant, but rather the battle advances through the streets of Pollença until it reaches its final conclusion.
The combats of l'Almoina, Joan Mas's cry, the departure of the Old Town Hall and of the Christians of Sant Jordi are part of a broader narrative that culminates late into the night at ca n'Escarrinxo.
Therefore, the organization reminds that all parts of the simulation deserve the same respect and prominence. Leaving space for participants is also a way to preserve the quality of the representation and allow the officials and both sides to develop the combats with full intensity.
The last combat, in particular, requires that only the members of both sides participate. The involvement of the public is essential, but so is ensuring that the representation maintains its meaning and symbolic strength.
La Patrona is a festival that also appeals to the eyes. The attire and elements of both sides are part of a collective image that has been built over the years.
The Christian side maintains traditional elements such as white linen dresses, espadrilles with white laces, and symbolic weapons: the falchion and the threader for the Christian women and the wooden staff for the Christian men.
The Moorish side incorporates the chest guard and trousers, the turban, espadrilles, the wooden sword, and the characteristic elements that complete their image.
The City Council reminds that people over 16 years of age born, registered, or resident in the municipality of Pollença can participate in the simulation, thus reinforcing the participatory dimension of a festival that is built with the involvement of the people.
La Patrona is not a fixed photograph of the past. It is a festival that has known how to adapt to new times and maintain its symbolic value.
The philologist Teresa Cànaves summarizes it when she states that “we have known how to adapt our festival to the 21st century, we have made it more inclusive and democratic, more participatory”.
This evolution is also part of the reflection of other voices that have contributed to this year's program. Josep Lluís Reig recalls that “to enjoy the emotional repercussions that any celebration offers us, it must be understood that all emotions are positive and that when they appear, it is for a clear evolutionary reason”.
Margalida Cànaves focuses on the marks that any celebration leaves with her text The Scars of La Patrona, while Jaume Pons vindicates, based on Blai Bonet, that “words are the landscape after the battle”.
A landscape that, in the case of Pollença, is formed by generations of people who have kept alive a festival that continues to challenge the people.
A Patrona to coexist and share
The mayor of Pollença, Martí March, and the councillor for Festivities, Mateu Tugores, emphasize that the celebration should serve to strengthen the bonds between neighbours, to meet, listen to each other and share a common tradition.
Their call is for the festival to be experienced with respect, responsibility, and joy, but also with safety and freedom.
Because the Patrona is this: a symbolic battle that only makes sense because behind it there is a community that makes it possible. A tradition that looks to the past, but continues to build its future.