Palma de Mallorca celebrates its annual winter fiestas

Lotus UK headed to Palma de Mallorca in January to experience the city's unique winter festivities, the Fiestas de Sant Sebastià. Traditionally celebrated to honour the city’s patron saint, while much of the UK is suffering from a post-Christmas come down, we were delighted to find that the locals in Palma do nothing of the sort. In fact, the Christmas lights even continue sparkling until the fiestas have finished. Winter blues? Pah!

First we were treated to atmospheric fire processions in the streets, where devils and demons parade through the city centre warding off evil, also known as the Correfoc. Then it was onto the main event - where a procession of musicians and masked characters march into the Plaza Mayor and the lighting of the enormous bonfire marks the official start of the festivities. Then we made like locals by roasting our own dinner on the "torrada", one of the many communal barbecues laid out in the street, before dancing into the small hours to live music on the many different stages dotted across the city centre.

We may have returned home exhausted and with our New Year's Resolutions in tatters, but it certainly beats Dry January!