Free Tanit festival fills Sant Antoni on 5 and 6 September

Today's essentials (3 key points)

• A free festival dedicated to the goddess Tanit runs on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September at the Espai Cultural Sa Punta des Molí in Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza, according to Periódico de Ibiza.
• The cheap set-menu lunch, or menu del dia, remains the single best value trick for eating well on a budget in Palma, as a newcomer's question on the r/mallorca forum underlines.
• Ciutadella will accept the court ruling and bring cars back to Es Born in mid-September, reopening 130 parking spaces and removing the terraces, according to Menorca (Es Diari).

Today's essentials

Free Tanit festival fills Sant Antoni on 5 and 6 September. A free festival honouring the ancient goddess Tanit takes over the Espai Cultural Sa Punta des Molí in Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza, on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September, with no ticket required, according to Periódico de Ibiza.

The event is put together by the Asociación Diosa Tanit Ibiza, a non-profit that promotes the island's cultural and environmental heritage, and this year it doubles up as a celebration of the World Day of the Goddess and the Day of the Indigenous Woman. Access is free throughout, which makes it one of the easiest cultural outings to plan this weekend if you are on Ibiza or hopping over from another island.

Saturday runs long, from 10.30 in the morning to 7 in the evening, and leans hands-on. Periódico de Ibiza lists a ceramics workshop to model your own Tanit figure, a traditional Ibizan cooking session, a talk on ancestral wisdom and medicinal plants, and a coffee tasting, before the afternoon shifts to talks on indigenous women and native heritage, a Colla de Portmany folk dance display and a closing concert by the group Hijas de la Tierra.

Sunday is shorter and more ceremonial, from 6 in the evening to 11 at night. The programme moves through music, a guided ritual to Tanit, conversations on spiritual leadership and island traditions, a ritual dance and a round-table before the painting-contest prizes are handed out around 9.45pm and a DJ set with visual projections rounds things off, with the official close set for 10.30pm.

If the mythology pulls you in, the setting rewards a wander too. The Espai Cultural Sa Punta des Molí sits in the bay of Portmany, between the beaches of s'Arenal and es Pouet, and is a protected heritage site with an old mill, a waterwheel, a museum olive press, an open-air auditorium and a Mediterranean botanical garden. History buffs can push further north to the cave of Es Culleram, in Sant Vicent de sa Cala, the largest ancient sanctuary to Tanit on the island, who was the chief protective deity of antique Ibiza.

What this changes for you: this is a rare free, family-friendly weekend of culture in the middle of a pricey island summer, easy to reach by car and set right by the sea in Sant Antoni. You can drop in for a single workshop or stay for the evening concerts, and if you want to catch the full arc the festival wraps up on Sunday 6 September at 10.30pm, according to Periódico de Ibiza.

Weather today

Hot and dry across the islands today. The Balearics stay hot and rain-free this Thursday 3 September, with Palma between 25 and 32 degrees under mostly clear skies, according to Open-Meteo.

In Palma expect a low of 25 and a high of 32 degrees, largely sunny, no rain on the cards and a light breeze reaching 14 km/h, so plan the heavier walking or the beach for the early morning or after 6pm and keep water on hand. The rest of Mallorca looks similar around Andratx, again 25 to 32 degrees and dry, though early fog may sit over the coast before it burns off.

On the smaller islands the range is tighter: Formentera runs 27 to 30 degrees with partly cloudy skies, no rain and a gentle wind up to 11 km/h, per Open-Meteo. Light clothing, sun cream and shade in the middle of the day are the sensible calls everywhere today.

Transport & traffic

No transport or traffic incidents reported at time of publication.

What's changing for you

• Menorca town halls hunt 730,000 euros for staff bonus. Alaior has asked the Spanish State for help to fund the 730,000 euros it needs to pay its public workers the new Canary-style insularity bonus, according to Menorca (Es Diari). Bringing Balearic public employees' insularity supplement into line with the higher one paid in the Canary Islands has forced Menorca's town halls to rework their budgets and find the money at short notice. If you work for a local authority on the islands this is the change to watch, as it affects public payrolls directly; residents more broadly should expect councils to be juggling tight budgets while they absorb the cost, so keep an eye on your own town hall's announcements for any knock-on decisions.
• The menu del dia is still your best-value lunch. The set-price weekday lunch, the menu del dia, remains the smartest way to eat well cheaply in Palma, a point underlined by a newcomer asking for recommendations on the r/mallorca forum. A menu del dia is a fixed-price midday meal, usually a starter, a main, a dessert or coffee and often a drink, served on weekdays and aimed at workers, which is why it beats à la carte on value. As a new arrival, ask around your own neighbourhood rather than the tourist strips, look for places busy with locals at 2pm, and note that many spots also do it as takeaway, a handy way to keep food costs down while you settle in.

Local news to know

• Prohens demands answers from Sánchez over migration remark. Balearic president Marga Prohens has publicly demanded explanations from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez after he told Congress that a police report on mass migrant arrivals referred to the Balearics rather than Ceuta, according to Diario de Mallorca.
• Diada de Mallorca 2026 marks 'La Balanguera' centenary. The Diada de Mallorca 2026, organised by the Consell de Mallorca, will centre on the centenary of the anthem 'La Balanguera' and name the singer Rels B as Favourite Son, with events split between Palma and the Part Forana, reports Diario de Mallorca.
• Enric Mas stretches his lead at La Vuelta. Mallorca's Enric Mas, riding for Movistar Team, extended his advantage over his closest rivals on the twelfth stage of La Vuelta, according to Ultima Hora.
• Cars return to Ciutadella's Es Born in mid-September. Ciutadella will accept the court ruling and bring cars back to the Es Born square in mid-September, reopening its 130 parking spaces, removing the terraces and clearing the street furniture, according to Menorca (Es Diari).

Tonight and tomorrow, the Balearic Islands

• Las Dalias and Akasha roll out September nights. The Las Dalias venue and its Akasha space in Ibiza have unveiled a September line-up bringing back some of the season's most representative parties plus special dates as summer winds down, according to Periódico de Ibiza. Check Las Dalias' own calendar for exact nights and prices before heading over.
• A big week of fiestas across Mallorca. Between Friday 4 and Thursday 10 September, Mallorca hosts the Moors and Christians in Santa Ponsa, the La Beata procession in Santa Margalida and Palma's large Mare de Déu de la Salut celebration, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin. Expect street processions and crowds in those towns, so arrive early and plan parking ahead if you want a good spot.

See the full agenda, tonight and tomorrow