Blessing Of The Animals

After midday mass on Sunday, 18th January
in the church square of Santa Gertrudis, Ibiza

Ibiza traditionally marks St. Anthony's Day with a special celebration - the Blessing of the Animals. According to the Catholic Church, St. Anthony was the patron saint of animals, which is why believers ask him to give their pets and livestock his blessing - in two towns on Ibiza, San Antonio and Santa Gertrudis.

This year, the blessing will take place in Santa Gertrudis on Sunday, 18th January. Last year, we were lucky enough to be there to witness the traditional celebration for ourselves. Here's what we saw - maybe our report will motivate you to go and see the blessing of the animals for yourselves. It's a wonderful experience - and gives people from other parts of the world a great insight into the heart and soul of Ibiza.

A colourful scene greets our eyes as we arrive at the church square in Santa Gertrudis. People on horseback are riding in on their groomed and glossy steeds. One of them is accompanied by a little granddaughter sitting up on the saddle dressed in traditional Andalusian riding costume. Every now and then her friends swap places to have a ride.

Animal owners - men and women of every imaginable age - have brought along their four-legged friends. Purebred dogs with pedigrees as long as your arm rub shoulders with lowly island mongrels. Somehow, the dogs seem to realise that today is something out of the ordinary. There is not a bark or a growl to be heard - all of them are on their best behaviour - when the priest arrives to bless the animals with holy water straight after the midday mass.

A father is walking hand in hand with his son. The boy is carrying a goldfish in a large and carefully sealed preserving jar. The fish is also on its way to the blessing. "So Pedro doesn't get sick!" the little boy explains to his grandmother, who has also come along for the day. The goldfish, meanwhile, is getting an eyeful of the world that few of his fellow fish are ever likely to see. After all, how many fish have ever found themselves standing - or swimming - between a dog and a horse..?

A farmer arrives with a brown hen - the best layer in his chicken coop. To make sure this Ibizan country chicken doesn't get away, he's tied a piece of string around one of her legs. You can never be sure that a hen won't panic at the sight of so many dogs and horses and make a sudden bolt for freedom. The moment that everyone has been waiting for has arrived. The priest blesses the animals. Last year, it was Vicente Ribas, who has moved to Santa Eulalia; this year it will be his successor, Antonio Ferrer. He wishes the animals and their owners good health and protection from illness.

Even spectators who were not born and bred here will sense how important the tradition of blessing animals is and, more specifically, was for Ibiza as a whole. For farmers whose livelihoods depended on agriculture and livestock up until 30 years ago, the good health of their animals was crucial.

Some of the less affluent farmers would only have one pig and a couple of goats. The pig would be slaughtered on St. Martin's Day to provide meat and sausages to carry the family through the harsh winter months. If a pig became ill and died before it could be slaughtered, or if a goat stopped giving milk, this could spell disaster for the entire family...

Incidentally: one of the dogs abandoned all decorum after the blessing had been held and made a beeline for the hen. Luckily, the farmer was holding on tightly to his henhouse champion because it appeared that the dog was after more than just a few feathers... After the blessing had been held - and in accordance with the tradition - all those present are offered a free meal of aniseed doughnuts, a local delicacy. They can also buy a serving of sobrassada, a deliciously spiced pork sausage.

The Blessing of the Animals on Ibiza is followed by a procession of people on horseback and horse drawn carts. After the festivities, the owners stop off at one of the nearby bars and restaurants for a meal of paella or bread and ham - after they have dropped their animals off at home, of course, at least in the case of the goldfish and the champion hen...