Antonia Tomás has a special way of celebrating Christmas. Each year she creates a nativity scene that has been getting bigger and bigger as time has passed and this year it will stand no less than 34m2 tall.
Every Christmas, hundreds of people from throughout Mallorca go to see it. It is an Arabic style nativity scene, rather than a classical or Mallorcan interpretation, but it always incorporated elements of the island’s tradition and landscape.
One year it featured the Torrent de Pareis, another town of Orient. Another year it featured Pla de Sant Jordi, countryside labours or dry-stone walls.
Although the composition is large in scale, it is not a life-size nativity scene, but a miniature one, and with the exception of the figures themselves, all the materials used (earth, trees, rocks, moss…) are natural.
Antonia Tomás belongs to the Association of Nativity Scenes of Mallorca, which every year organises a Christmas route which takes participants through various of the island’s municipalities, such as Valldemossa, Deià, Artà, Banyalbufar, Capdepera, Porreres, Llucmajor and Palma. The interest in nativity scenes is so high within the Mallorcan population that many people visit them throughout the holidays.
Nativity Scenes in Mallorca
