Pollensa's Intercultural Weekend on May 6th and 7th was a riot of bright colours, happy music and delicious cooking smells.

Pollensa's Intercultural Weekend on May 6th and 7th was a riot of bright colours, happy music and delicious cooking smells.

Stalls were set up in the Cloisters to show offerings from the dozen different countries represented, all of whom have sizeable communities living in the area. The German stall was piled high with mouth-watering cakes and tarts, and the local Pollensa countryman's cooperative table was laden with attractively arranged flowers and aromatic pots of basil.

The British stall looked splendid, bedecked with union jacks and the flowers of its integral nations: the rose of England, Welsh leek, Irish shamrock and the thistle of Scotland. Bright tourist brochures and posters surrounded trays of mini-English trifles, and the stall offered perhaps the most welcome component in the whole building -- refreshing cups of tea!

There were several events on both days with music from the Pollensa town band as well as by musicians from Ecuador and China; flamenco dancing and dancing displays by groups from Colombia and Argentina; and Italian, Chinese and Mallorcan cookery demonstrations. A very friendly, cosmopolitan atmosphere prevailed throughout the weekend and Pollensa's cultural department are to be congratulated on this excellent and successful initiative to further understanding between the different nationalities living in this area.