Manacor experiences a lively and colorful San Antonio festival, but with a mourning that is not yet complete.

PalmSaint Anthony's Day unites faith and enthusiasm. Social class, economic status, and even age. The quintessential festival for those from outside the city needs no explanation. Aware of all its virtues, the celebration in Manacor has once again displayed the perfect blend of artistry in its critique and empathy for tragedy.

Artism in the hands of those who, throughout Thursday night and Friday morning, designed and erected up to a hundred bonfires throughout the town. And empathy for the family of Miguel Ángel Flórez, the young musician from the Municipal Band who lost his life yesterday while sleeping, when part of the floor of his house collapsed on him on Sant Francesc Street.

Throughout the day, neighbors and friends have been placing the typical colorful flowers of Sant Antoni on one of the fences that still enclose the perimeter of the facade, as a sign of respect and remembrance, following a spontaneous, community-led initiative that arose on social media. The same good taste was shown by the Patronato and the Colla de Demonios de Manacor, who today, like clockwork, set out from Cal Baciner to walk in fifteen minutes to the front of the old Manacor Town Hall in the Plaça del Convent.

There, the Demoni Gros (Toni Lluís Reyes) asked for silence from the approximately 5,000 young people who had already filled the space early in the morning. Two traditional Santa Antonian tunes were sung without dancing or the jaws of the animal protector. This year, the President of the Balearic Government, Margalida Prohens, and the President of the Congress of Deputies, Francina Armengol, were present at the entrance, accompanying the Mayor of Manacor, Miquel Oliver, during these difficult hours. They were seen speaking at length, while the blinds of the Hall remained closed and the Manacor flag displayed a black ribbon as a sign of mourning.

After this, the three remaining dances took place. Despite the momentum, they were more subdued than in other years, reflecting a more subdued atmosphere, even though it was Friday and the weekend was just around the corner.

Picnics and bonfires

Families cycled through the streets, and visitors were invited for a snack by attentive locals. By 9:00 a.m., bars like El Porrón, Sa Volta, and El Mallorquín were already overflowing with customers accustomed to the "complete" bread with olive oil, enough to last them before they finished placing the bonfires, or to set off and start taking photos of the day to post on social media. "For days now, if they want some herbs, I make the boards sing songs of Saint Anthony," says Nofre Galmés, from El Porrón. At the Sant Vicenç de Paül school, a recreation of a carpentry workshop in Camela Square and a nostalgic image of the old Teatro Principal of Manacor, made of papier-mâché and wood, were on display. A theater inaugurated in 1922, but devoured by urban development and closed in 1969, with the sole intention of creating parking lots, which still remain today as a symbol of heritage shame.

The Dimònia Apol·lònia and her demons have already danced this morning in the Plaça de sa Torre. Those from the Anti-Patriarchal Assembly will do so at 6:30 p.m., departing from Espai Goya, the old neighborhood cinema which they will have to vacate on the 23rd of this month after no three-way agreement was reached with the owners and the Manacor City Council.