The fiesta horses of Menorca are infamous. Here's why

Son Martorellet

Menorca, Personal


Menorca Fiestas

The Menorca fiesta horses take centre stage across the island’s busy summer fiesta season. Twenty seventeen fiesta season will start in Ciutadella in less than one week from now and I’m heading there with the cameras to capture as much of the action as possible.

Sant Joan or the celebration of the birth of Saint John the Baptist is on 24 June every year. It is celebrated in many Christian countries, but the celebration, on the island of Menorca, is famous throughout Spain. It is considered one of the best because of the horses and riders which make the party so special.

The horses are ridden through the narrow, ancient streets of the old capital. The British occupied the island in the eighteenth century and made Mahon the new capital because of the strategic location of the town. Ciutadella is more picturesque however. The skilled riders rear the horses in front of the young hoards.

It is an incredible spectacle, which you must see, if you are on the island at this time of year. If not, then all of the main towns across the island of Menorca celebrate their patron saint. Their fiestas are during the summer and all will have the Menorcan horses and riders showing their skills to the enraptured crowds.