Menorca Easter Parade
The Menorcans speak Castellan as well as Catalan, but thank goodness most people we ran into spoke English. We were here in Menorca for a long Easter weekend, my friend and I picked this least known of the Balearic Islands, which is located off the west coast of Spain. Compared to Ibiza and Mallorca, this island is small and unassuming. This is exactly what we were looking for, because we really needed to unwind and de-stress. Menorca is a perfect island getaway.
We rented a car and spent four days getting to know this tiny isle. It has beach hamlets that are cute and we visited the two biggest towns, Ciutadella and Port Mao. This island is great for a long weekend, but not for a much longer stay, say like two weeks. There was just enough to keep us interested and occupied, but not so much that we felt pressured to hit another museum at the expense of an all important afternoon siesta. This island allowed us to soak up the unique, local take on Spanish island culture. Simple, relaxed and great finding a table at one of the many seaside restaurants, or downing the fresh catch of the day topped off with a nice bottle of Catalan rose’ wine.
The days leading up to Easter has given us an extra treat, the Good Friday procession in downtown Mao was delightful. The whole town participates, or watches the parade. We were staying at one of the best Menorca hotels, which was just brief walk down to the parade and thoroughly enjoyed the parade that was a mix between a Halloween parade and a Neo white supremacist revival. Really! There were hundreds of men and boys dressed in these long robes with pointed hoods parading through town. Each group was dressed in the colors of one of the confraternities and carrying passion-themed floats and banging on drums and tooting on horns. Very surreal. Very intriguing. Not your usual American Main Street parade. Worth every minute.
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