Nit de l'Art turns 30 tonight: 100+ artists open Palma

Today's essentials (5 key points)

• Palma marks the 30th edition of its Nit de l'Art on Saturday 19 September 2026, with galleries and museums across the historic centre opening free of charge from 6pm to 11pm.
• Open-Meteo forecasts calm early-autumn weather across the Balearics, with a high of 28 degrees in Palma and mostly dry skies.
• Nearly a dozen hot-air balloons took to the skies over Ibiza for the second edition of the island's balloon festival, according to Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera.
• The PSOE is calling for a dedicated housing inspector in Menorca after only six complaints were logged in two years, Es Diari reports.
• Canoeists Carlos Arévalo and Emily Lewis took the K1 titles at the third Trofeo Abanca Ciutat de Palma, held at the Parc de la Mar lagoon, according to Última Hora.

Today's essentials

Nit de l'Art turns 30 tonight: 100+ artists open Palma. Palma's galleries and museums throw open their doors free of charge tonight, Saturday 19 September 2026, from 6pm to 11pm, for the 30th Nit de l'Art, the city's biggest night of contemporary art.

According to Última Hora, this milestone 30th edition brings together more than 50 exhibitions and over 100 artists, and it spills well beyond Palma to reach Andratx, Pollença and Santanyí on the same evening. The night is coordinated by Art Palma Contemporani alongside the Ajuntament de Palma and the Consell de Mallorca. It all traces back to September 1997, when gallerists Pep Pinya and Xavier Fiol launched a single night of after-dark openings and turned Palma into the first European city to hold a 'Nit de l'Art'.

If you want a route that actually delivers, start in the heart of the old town. The Casal Solleric, the exhibition hall on the leafy Passeig del Born, hosts 'Nous Talents' by Rebeca Morey Pérez, and it sits a two-minute walk from Can Balaguer, the cultural centre on Carrer de la Unió. From there the seafront ramparts lead you to Es Baluard, Palma's modern and contemporary art museum, which also joins the night. All three are walkable from Plaça d'Espanya, the hub where the metro, the Palma to Sóller and Manacor trains and most bus lines converge.

For the anniversary programme, Última Hora and Canal4Diario point to standout shows worth planning around. The Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró Mallorca, out at Cala Major just west of the centre and easiest to reach by car or the EMT city bus, presents 'Jora' by Pedro Torres. Espai Cor shows 'El cor del bosc' by Fabián Schalekamp, while Bel Fullana's 'Club Miseria: The Last Beat' and Isabel Servera's 'Alenades' round out the fresh openings. Organisers also lay on free guided tours in several languages, so you are not left decoding wall texts alone.

What this changes for you: tonight is a rare, no-cost way to see Mallorca's whole art scene in one go, and the free multilingual tours mean you do not need fluent Catalan or Spanish to follow along. Keep it simple, park the car and base yourself in the historic centre, where Casal Solleric, Can Balaguer and Es Baluard sit within a short stroll of each other, then save the Fundació Miró at Cala Major for a dedicated trip. Doors close at 11pm, so start early and let the crowds carry you from one opening to the next.

Weather today

A calm, dry Saturday across the islands. Open-Meteo expects a settled early-autumn day across the Balearics on Saturday 19 September 2026, with Palma reaching a high of 28 degrees under partly cloudy skies and no rain in the forecast.

In Palma the mercury dips to 19 degrees overnight before climbing to 28, with light winds of up to 14 km/h and a zero percent chance of rain, ideal conditions for an evening spent walking between galleries. Across the rest of Mallorca, Manacor sits a touch cooler at 16 to 27 degrees, again dry and partly cloudy with breezes up to 16 km/h.

On the other islands the picture is a shade greyer: Sant Antoni, on Ibiza, holds between 21 and 27 degrees under an overcast sky, with a slim 10 percent chance of a shower and the strongest gusts of the day at up to 19 km/h. Pack a light layer for the night air, but you can leave the umbrella at home.

Transport & traffic

• Nearly a dozen balloons colour the Ibiza sky. Nearly a dozen hot-air balloons lifted off over Ibiza this morning for the first flight of the second edition of the island's balloon festival, according to Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera. The mass ascent turns the island's skyline into one of its most photogenic sights of the year, and it is worth knowing if you are on the road early: drivers around the launch zone may slow to watch, and the balloons make for a striking backdrop on the morning commute. For anyone flying in or out this weekend, it is a reminder that Ibiza's autumn calendar is filling up well past the summer peak.
• A short film holds a mirror to Ibiza's airport plans. Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera highlights 'En aquesta illa de sal', a short film directed by Silvia Clapes with cinematography by Javier Ramírez that revisits Ibiza's long fight against large-scale speculation as a lens on the debate over expanding the airport. The film ties the Pitiusas' recent history to the pressure of oversized development, framing the airport question as the latest chapter in that story. For residents who rely on the airport to get on and off the island, it is a timely prompt: how much more traffic the Pitiusas can absorb is shaping up to be one of the season's defining local arguments.

What's changing for you

• Menorca renters: a push for a dedicated housing inspector. The PSOE is demanding a full-time housing inspector for Menorca after the Govern's inspection and sanctions service logged just six complaints on the island in two years, according to Es Diari. If you rent on Menorca and suspect your tenancy breaches the rules, that thin enforcement record matters: with so few cases handled, abuses and infringements have gone largely unchecked, the PSOE argues. Keep documentation of any irregularity (contract, receipts, communications) and lodge complaints directly with the Dirección General de Vivienda y Arquitectura, because more pressure on the system is exactly what could turn a single overstretched service into one that actually acts.

Local news to know

• World-class canoeing lands at the Parc de la Mar. Carlos Arévalo and Emily Lewis won the men's and women's K1 titles at the third Trofeo Abanca Ciutat de Palma, which drew big crowds to the lagoon of the Parc de la Mar, according to Última Hora.
• A Menorcan designer makes his Madrid runway debut. Es Diari reports that Menorcan designer Álex Cortés, known as Álex Menorca, made his debut at Madrid's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to a warm reception, calling the moment 'a dream'.
• A low-level cold notice, but only in the Canaries. Meteoalarm has issued a green level notice for minimum temperatures across much of the Canary Islands, the lowest rung on its scale and well away from the Balearics, meaning no real impact here.
• Mallorca's Sunday outlook stays calm. Conditions over Mallorca remain settled heading into Sunday 20 September, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin.

See the full agenda, tonight and tomorrow