W
hile much of Spain settles into a quiet winter routine after the holidays, Mallorca prepares for one of its most deeply rooted and emotionally charged celebrations: Sant Antoni. Across the island, Sant Antoni is celebrated on January 16 and 17, a tradition with roots in medieval agrarian rituals that sought to protect livestock and ward off evil spirits. Sant Antoni Abat became the central figure, the patron saint of animals who resisted the demons’ temptations through faith and endurance. Fire became part of the narrative, and the once-feared demons transformed into theatrical figures dancing through the streets and setting the stage for a night of tradition and communal celebration.
Sant Antoni is a week-long celebration. In the days leading up to January 16, Mallorca is filled with unmistakable signs that the fiesta is approaching. Foguerons (bonfires) appear in streets and squares, the scent of smoke fills the air, and the sounds of xeremiers, ximbombas and flabiols resonate through the towns. In Alcúdia, Sant Antoni has its own distinct rhythm, history and character. One shaped not only by tradition, but by people who over decades have lived and reinvented the fiesta. Especially the dimonis carry a rich history, the masked figures who dance through the streets, play tricks and symbolize the temptations and the evil that Sant Antoni resisted. Compared to villages such as Sa Pobla or Artà, where Sant Antoni celebrations date back centuries, Alcúdia’s dimonis are relatively young.
The official dimonis of Alcúdia were created in 1990, following the success of a major island-wide Dimoniada held in the town in 1989, a gathering or festival of dimonis where multiple groups from different towns come together to perform. The driving force behind this creation was Antoni Bibiloni, then councillor for culture at Alcúdia Town Hall and founder of the cultural association Sarau Alcudienc. Known for its work preserving traditional dance and folk culture, Sarau became and remains inseparably linked to the dimonis.
The first appearance in 1990 featured just nine dimonis. Their masks and costumes were simple, and their performances largely improvised. Yet the impact was immediate. What started as a cultural experiment quickly became a fixed element of Alcúdia’s Sant Antoni celebrations. Over the following decades, the group evolved both in size and structure: first to nineteen, later twenty-six, and since 2024, thirty official dimonis form the core of Alcúdia’s Sant Antoni spectacle. Despite this growth, one principle has remained unchanged. “The masks and the costumes belong to the town,” explains Jaume Martí Capó Viver, current president of the Associació de Dimonis d’Alcúdia, “while their maintenance, the organisation and performances are coordinated by Sarau Alcudienc and our association.”
