In his tour of the Mediterranean islands, John E. Crawford Flitch wrote and gave a detailed description of his stays in the publication Mediterranean moods, footnotes of travel in the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Sardinia (1911). In Mallorca, a visit to Sa Pobla inspired him to make a detailed description of its daily routine.
But there is one day in the spring of every year when for some hours the busy sewing machines are silent, and La Puebla forgets its preoccupation of buying and selling and ceases to talk of duros and pesetas.[...] It is the day of the Primera Comunión.
I was out in the streets a little after seven, when I saw a vision of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The piper, however, was not pied, but clad from head to foot in sober black; and although he did not pipe, the little black-bound book which he carried in his hand had magic enough in it to compel a horde of children to follow at his heels. He stalked through the streets until he came to the church, and there the black portal swallowed up both him and his victims, like Hamelin’s mountain. I followed, and found the children clustered round a priest in the midst of the nave. He was asking them a number of questions of a metaphysical nature, to each of which they replied, with all the shrill affirmation of their little souls and bodies, Sí, Padre! Sí, Padre!
Mediterranean moods, footnotes of travel in the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Sardinia, 1911
(Soughland, Inglaterra, 1881- 1946, Francia). A British Hispanist, writer and traveller, John Ernest Crawford Flitch came to Mallorca in the 1900s. During his studies at King's College, in Cambridge, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Humanities, he became interested in art and spirituality. Both these themes, together with mystics and descriptions of his travels, are reflected in his work. Although he mainly wrote translations and introductions to books, he also wrote Modern Dancing and Dancers (1912), Treasures (1912) and A Little Journey in Spain (1913). Some of these publications are on an artistic theme, mainly with critical reviews of paintings. He is best known by British academic critics as the English translator and prefacer of Miguel de Unamuno’ work, whom he visited for a few days in 1924 on the island of Fuerteventura.
He wrote about Mediterranean islands, giving a detailed description of his travels to them in Mediterranean Moods, Footnotes of Travel in the Islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Sardinia (1911). In Mallorca, a springtime visit to Sa Pobla inspired him to give a detailed description of its day-to-day life. He also wrote about other travels on mainland Spain and to the Canaries and North Africa.
Sa Pobla has a long history, documented in written sources and evinced from archaeological remains, with numerous examples of tangible and non-tangible heritage. On King James II’s orders, in 1300, different settlements were created. One was Sa Pobla, which was granted a town charter, allowing it to build a parish church dedicated to Saint Anthony of Viana. The town was built where it stands today, although the old parish church was replaced by a new one between the 17th and 18th centuries. The Saint Anthony feast day festivity is documented as having taken place in Sa Pobla since 1365. This is the most important festivity in the municipality, declared a Festivity of Cultural Interest by the Consell Insular de Mallorca in 2015.
