Festa de Nostra Sanyora de la Victoria, Port de Sóller, Mallorca, Spain (May 2010)
We would have showed up here on purpose if we'd realized this festa (or fiesta or festival) was going to happen, but we were just lucky. Another reason we loved Port de Sóller, Mallorca.
The festa is a mock battle between the Christians and the Moors (in blackface) to commemorate a raid by Turkish pirates on May 11, 1561. We took the dinghy in to watch most of it. When the battle is over, the Moors go around touching and hugging those not in blackface in order to spread it around. If you don't have a smudge, you weren't having fun. We got ours at the Dragonfly, a bar owned and operated by an ex-pat from Sausalito, California, of all places.
