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Convent Sant Vicenç FerrerCuriosity
The ximbomba, a friction percussion instrument widely used in the Mediterranean, was the origin of the fiesta of the same name, which takes place in Son Macià on Carnival Saturday. This instrument has traditionally been used to celebrate pork slaughtering in Mallorca. It also acquires a special significance in the fiestas of Sant Antoni Abad on January 16 and 17. Even today, singers improvise ironic versus around bonfires accompanied by a ximbomba. Villagers laugh at the verses, which usually have a highly erotic content.
Anthropologists directly connect the use of this instrument with ancestral rites of fertility and sexual initiation which are always held in winter while awaiting the arrival of spring.
