Jaleo

The Jaleo in the festivities of Menorca

The Menorcan jaleo, nowadays, has become the main act of all the patron saint festivities of the island and begins when the music band plays the musical piece of the jaleo and the horses, present in the square, approach the music band to perform the Menorcan dressage.

The jaleos are a free and multitudinous event that allows you to see the purebred Menorcan horses performing bots, capadetes and cabrioles guided by the caixers and/or cavallers and their companions in the main square of each municipality. They are held in each municipality and in some urban centres of the island of Menorca throughout the summer. The dates may vary depending on the festivity, so we recommend checking the calendar of Fiestas Menorca. Their duration is variable, they usually last between 2 and 4 hours, and it depends on the rhythm set by the music band and the number of horses that participate that year.

Currently in Ciutadella, during the festivities of Sant Joan, the format of the jaleo does not proceed in the same way as in other towns due to the tradition of the same and the massive concentration of people in the square, the bots and the exercises of Menorcan dressage happen in the different squares and streets of Ciutadella in which the Caragols take place and are performed. The music of the Jaleo in Sant Joan is reserved for one of the most special moments of the festivity.

Preparations for the jaleo

The caixers, cavallers and horses are instructed in Menorcan Dressage for several years, carrying out exercises, practices and simulations before being able to participate in the jaleo and the Caragols of the patron saint festivities. Apart from the Menorcan Dressage, they are instructed in all the acts that take place according to the protocols of the festivities, the pilgrimage, the times of rest, refreshment and food, the music, the people, the movements, the races and to approach the box to collect the green canya.

Due to the high temperatures of the summer season and the exercises carried out when participating in the festivities, the greatest risk that the horse can suffer is dehydration and fatigue at the end of the day. For this reason, the horse is fed a feed rich in minerals with electrolytes, which help prevent dehydration, in the same way that it is common to see caixers hydrating during rest periods.

What is the origin of Jaleo?

The origin of the jaleo and that of the festivities to honor the patron saint of the municipality do not occur at the same time. Therefore, to understand the origin of the jaleo it is necessary to know the origin of the patron saint festivities in Menorca, which are documented in the fourteenth century, Ciutadella. When a group of people belonging to different guilds, which formed the workmanship of Sant Joan d’Artrutx, moved to the hermitage of Sant Joan d’Artrutx, known today as Sant Joan de Missa, to honour Sant Joan Baptista and carry out the maintenance of the hermitage. These workers traveled on horseback to the parish, where the Solemn Masses Completes were celebrated.

The fuss originated in Ciutadella. It was the year 1888 when the Popular Band, which enlivened the Caragol des Born and the Jocs des Plà , performed during the Caragol des Born one of the pieces by Cristóbal Oudrid that was all the rage among Menorcan society at the end of the nineteenth century, El postillón de la Rioja. Its inclusion in the repertoire of songs performed by the music band caused the horses that made the three laps of the Caragol des Born, frightened, to perform bots and cabrioles.

The commotion that was made was enormous, horses jumping and performing pirouettes while the cavallers, caixers and companions on foot, tried to direct their purebred Menorcan horses to the rhythm of El postillón de la Rioja in the main square of Ciutadella on the day they honoured Sant Joan, their patron saint. This fact, since then, has been baptized as the Jaleo.

During the following years it was introduced as an act in the other patron saint festivities of the towns of Menorca, and the musical piece was also baptized with the name of Jaleo. This music became so popular that it was played uninterruptedly throughout the event.

How to participate?

Attending to see the jaleos that form in the Caragols during the main days of the festivities is very simple, you do not need to register and it is free. Find an area outside the risk zone from which you have a good perspective, away from the sand and horses from where you can observe the commotion.

Rules of behavior

During the ruckus, there are prohibitions and rules of behavior that must be followed to ensure that it succeeds. A lack of respect or inclusion in them can easily cause a problem with the authority, with the assistants or with the caixers and/or cavallers.

We recommend that you consult the Menorca Festivities guide and access the sections on rules and measures, and advice for outsiders.

The Jaleo during the Festivities of Menorca

During the festivities in Menorca, the musical piece of the jaleo can be heard on very few occasions, it is usually the one that starts it.

As early as 1928, the governor described the celebration as follows:

That said act or fuss, consists in the fact that the Cavalcade, when verifying the parade through the streets Mayor, Palmer and Plaza de la Constitución, as has been the custom for many years, not only in Alayor, but in most of the towns of the island, passes in front of a music band that, on top of a tribune erected for that purpose, he plays a jota, the riders making the horses they ride get as close to it as possible, getting them to rear, dance, jump and so on, delighting the audience…

Dalmiro Rodríguez Pedré, military governor of Menorca during 1928