Corpus a Palma

From the patio tour
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Corpus Festival

Late May and early June is a good time to visit Palma. The weather is very good ; It is not too hot (temperatures of 29C high and 20C low or  84F + 68F). Although there are always lots of tourists it does not yet have the school kids. More importantly, there are fascinating events associated with Corpus Christi, an important feast in the Spanish religious calendar. In Palma, there are three aspects to what is known as the Corpus a Palma Spring Festival (1) Tours of patios in Palma’s Old City (2) a series of free evening concerts and (3) a religious programme at the Cathedral which includes a procession around the area of the Cathedral. Each of these in their own right are interesting, but in combination they create a very special occasion.

From the patio tour
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The Patios of Palma

For the Corpus Festival, over 50 patios are opened (not full time) for either viewing or for concerts. Many of these are private and only accessible during the festival. Walking tours of just over 2 hours are organised each day

Music

Free classical music concerts are given in the fortnight leading up to Corpus Christi. I attended three of them: an all Bach programme at the Cloisters of Mount Sion,;an organ recital at the Cathedral and a string quartet at Can Catlar. Each of them were good in their own way, but the Quartet Ise (young musicians from the Paris Conservatory) was outstanding ; they played Borodin's Quartet No 2 and Debussy’s Quartet Op 10.

From the patio tour
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The Religious Procession

I went to this with my friend Gurnos who came to Palma for three days. We were surprised that there were so few tourists watching the procession which started at 7pm ; this remains first and foremost, a festival by and for the religious. The procession was headed by groups of men in costume, doing ritualistic dances and reenactments (which did not appear to me to be religious in tone), then the artifacts from the Cathedral were paraded, including a giant Monstrance of gold and silver. The carpet of flowers on the street at Plaza Cort was not disturbed during the procession, but as soon as it finished, people gathered up the greenery and flowers until the whole display was nearly gone.