Mahón – Horses, Crowds and Chaos

We finally arrived in Mahón, but we were a little early to go into the marina, so rather than hanging around waiting, we decided to take ZigZag on a harbour tour before heading back towards the marina.

The entrance to the harbour is impressive, opening into a huge expanse of sheltered water. Mahón has one of the largest natural harbours in the world, stretching for more than five kilometres inland. Its deep, sheltered waters have made it strategically important for centuries, attracting the Romans, Moors and, later, the British, who fought for and occupied Menorca in the 18th century, because of its valuable position in the Mediterranean.

Today, the harbour is still a busy working port, with plenty to see as you make your way further inland. Historic fortifications, dockside warehouses and a naval base sit alongside grand waterfront houses, while boats and marinas line much of the shoreline. Small islands are dotted throughout the harbour, adding to the scenery and making the journey towards Mahón an interesting one by boat.

As we cruised around, we could see just how enormous and sheltered the harbour is. After a full tour, we made our way towards the marina. Once settled into our berth, we headed into town and found ourselves at one of Menorca’s most traditional celebrations. From the top of the steep steps leading up to the old town, we had a great view back across the harbour, there was music playing and people dancing in the street.

We have learnt over the last twelve months just how much the Spanish love a festival, and we had arrived during the Festes de Gràcia, Mahón’s main annual festival, held in honour of the town’s patron saint, Our Lady of Grace. The celebrations are particularly famous for their horses, and it didn’t take long before we found ourselves caught up in the middle of something quite extraordinary.

Many of the cobbled streets were covered in sand, presumably to give the horses a little more grip, and the whole town seemed to have turned out. The main square and surrounding streets were packed with people. A brass band began playing lively, repetitive and slightly hypnotic music in the square, and then the horses entered one by one, making their way through the crowds.

This is the known as the famous Jaleo, (translates roughly to ‘lively commotion’), the centrepiece of many of Menorca’s traditional horse festivals. More than 130 beautifully dressed Menorcan horses and their riders trotted through the packed square, as the crowds parted just in front of them. The horses are encouraged to rear up onto their hind legs, almost appearing to ‘dance’ to the music of the band, while the crowd surged around them, cheering and urging them on.

Everyone was trying to get close enough to be part of the spectacle, touching the horses breast is considered good luck and many of the more experienced locals were actually helping to support the horse and rider as they performed.

It was quite a sight. From where we stood, it looked like complete chaos and was slightly nerve racking when you realised just how close the horses were to the people. We were a little more cautious, making sure we kept well clear of the hooves! Most of the riders seemed to know exactly what they were doing, but every now and then an excited horse would come through with its rider looking as though they didn’t have complete control.

Once through the square, the riders took their horses through the streets to join the queue, ready to go back through the square again. They just kept coming!

After the Jaleo came another tradition, the Canyes Verdes ceremony. As the horsemen and women, known as caixers and cavallers, passed through the square, they were presented with canyes verdes, or “green canes”, along with a small silver spoon engraved with Festes de Gràcia and the year.

The canes and spoons are presented to the riders by local dignitaries, accompanied by the sound of the fabiol, a traditional Menorcan flute. The gifts are a mark of recognition for their participation in the festival.

The riders then left the square and made their way through the old streets of Mahón towards the town hall, passing through the medieval Portal de Sant Roc dating from 1359, it is the only surviving gateway from Mahón’s medieval city walls.

Later in the day, we watched the Corregudes des Cós de Gràcia, the traditional horse races. With crowds lining both sides of the narrow street, the horses were lined up ready, first a rider on a donkey playing a flute trotted down the course. Then two horses at a time charged down at full gallop. Once they had all run, the horses trotted back with their riders carrying the green canes.

It was a very different event from the Jaleo. Here, it was less about the horses rearing up among the crowds and more about speed, with the riders racing flat out along the narrow course. Watching two horses charging at full speed down a street packed with people, accompanied by the roar of the crowd and the thunder of their hooves, made it quite an experience.

The tradition behind the annual festivities is deeply rooted in Menorca’s history. Developed from religious celebrations, with the horses and riders gradually becoming an increasingly important part of the event. The modern Festes de Gràcia have been celebrated in Mahón since 1890 in honour of the town’s patron saint. It was certainly an unforgettable experience to watch, and unlike anything we had seen before.

An eating area had been set up in one of the squares serving a variety of food from a pig roast, which looked very popular, to a variety of sweet treats. It’s hard work fighting your way through crowds and watching crazy horses so we felt like we deserved a brief rest and tried the paella which was very good and energised us to continue.

As evening arrived, the festival atmosphere showed no sign of disappearing. Many of the bars had actually closed their normal entrances, but were still serving drinks through little hatches onto the street.

Stages had been set up around the town, with live music and DJs playing late into the night, the crowds remained, and seemed to have no intention of going home anytime soon.

Of course, we couldn’t spend an evening in Menorca during a festival without trying the local drink. We sampled Pomada, the traditional Menorcan cocktail made with local gin and cloudy lemonade, served with crushed ice. It was refreshing, deceptively easy to drink and seemed to be the perfect accompaniment to the music and celebrations going on around us.

Being immersed in the festivities, watching the horses bucking at the crowds and racing through the streets had already been quite a spectacle. Along with the music, dancing in the streets, overflowing bars and a couple of pomadas, Mahón had certainly given us a memorable welcome.