Caragols

Route taken by the colcada.

The caragols of Ciutadella de Menorca

The best known caragols are those of Ciutadella in Menorca, during the festivities of Sant Joan, as they are made 3 laps by custom, although on some occasions the Caixer Senyor may decide to make one more or one lap less, depending on the time they have for the correct passage of the protocol marked.

Rows with more than 100 horses

It is customary at Menorca’s festivals to see endless rows of horses in the historic centres of the towns and cities that make up the island’s municipalities. During the course of the town’s patron saint festival, the parade must move from one location to another to follow the protocol established for the correct development of recreational and religious events. On some occasions, customs and protocol mark the number of laps that the parade must make through the same location, thus creating circuits that are called caragol.

The parade

During the course of the caragols, one of the events with the highest participation of spectators of all ages, you can see how the horses execute the bot to the rhythm of the music band, how the riders riding on their horses enter and leave through the doors of the houses, houses to which they have been invited by the hosts, in which once inside the lobby they greet the hosts with a bot and chasing the people inside with the horse. It is also a special occasion for the little ones in the house, as the caixer approaches the windows where the children are with the horse, and the horse with a gesture of closeness, lowers its head so that the children can touch the star on their foreheads. These same hosts of the houses and garages are the ones who also provide food and drink to the horses during the caragol.

Caragols in other festivals

The caragol also occurred in the rest of the municipalities of Menorca, but from the introduction of the music bands in the festivals, accompanying the horses, they began to jump and perform pirouettes in the streets and squares, which ended up becoming what we know today as the Jaleo. Over the years, this evolution of the caragol has become the main event of the festivities of Menorca, except for the municipality of Ciutadella de Menorca, which continues with the tradition of the caragol in its pure essence.