In your best Fraulein Maria voice, sing! Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read you begin with A,B,C, when you learn a language you begin with days of the week!!
And this is where we kick off this month’s insight into Spanish culture and language. Note, that although we live on a bilingual island, we’ll be sticking to castellano (Spanish) rather than Catalan. I don’t want to confuse you from the beginning!
LUNES /LOO-nez/ – MONDAY
The usual things that spring to mind in English when we think of Mondays are not particularly flattering; in music, the Bangles’ ‘Manic Monday’ and The Boomtown Rats’ ‘I don’t like Mondays’, in pop culture Garfield’s contempt for Mondays or even expressions such as ‘Monday Blues’. Don’t get me wrong, Spanish doesn’t really look favourably on Mondays either, but it certainly doesn’t think of it with as much disdain as the English-speaking world.
A bit of background on ‘lunes’, it is linked to the moon (la luna /la loona/) just like in English and many other languages. The moon also gives us the Spanish word ‘lunático’ /loo-NA-ticko/, it tends to translate better as ‘moody’ rather than ‘lunatic’ so don’t be afraid to use it, it’s not as offensive as in English.
As our linguistic element we have a fairly colloquial expression, which can be heard more amongst friends than formal discussion, ‘cada lunes y cada martes’ /cadda LOOnez ee cadda MARtez/. The phrase actually means something done with frequency or ‘all the time’ rather than its more direct translation; ‘every Monday and every Tuesday’. So instead of using ‘todo el tiempo’ (all the time), why not sound more native with this expression?
MARTES /MAR-tez/ – TUESDAY
Tuesday brings us ‘martes’. Inspired by Mars, the God of War and synonymous with a temporarily halted Palma institution, the ‘Ruta Martiana’ /roota mar-tee-yanna/. The Tuesday Tapas Route’s name is a play on both Mars, the planet and Tuesday hence the little martian logo you see adorning the windows of those bars taking part. The former red-light district of Sa Gerreria is home to this “tapas golf”. Previously one of the highlights of my week, I used to love jumping from bar to bar with a zurito /thurREEto/ and a tapa for a couple of euros; bustling bars and banter with friends, it really was a quality night out.
COVID restrictions have put paid to this cheap and cheerful outing for the moment, but we look forward to welcoming it back with open arms in the not too distant future.
MIÉRCOLES /me-AIR-col-ez/ – WEDNESDAY
Unlike Odin’s day in English (who knew?!), ‘miércoles’ or Wednesday is Mercury’s day in many romance languages. Our midweek day brings us an anti-swear word in Spanish; examples of ‘sugar’, ‘fox cakes’, ‘son of a biscuit’ and ‘James Blunt’ exist in English — ‘miércoles’ replacing ‘sugar’ just as ‘corcho’ replaces ‘James Blunt’. Wink, wink.
JUEVES /hwevez/ – THURSDAY
Thursday’s entry comes to us as a portmanteau like ‘brunch’, ‘bromance’ or ‘hangry’ in English. ‘Juernes’ /hwer-nez/ has evolved as an amalgamation of ‘jueves’ and ‘viernes’ (Friday). It’s a word forged from the Spaniards’ love of a party. In my fourteen years in Spain, the one phrase that sums up the Spaniards for me is ‘any excuse for a party’. They will celebrate anything from slaughtering pigs to Saint’s days to it just being summer – no complaints here, there’s a reason why I have made Mallorca my home!!
In terms of its meaning ‘juernes’, can refer to two things; a Thursday where you usually do Friday-like things such as staying out late and partying or a Thursday where the following day is a bank-holiday Friday.
I just love this term and often use it with my friends when we’re looking for justification for a Thursday night shindig. Give it a whirl, you will be sounding like a local in no time. Our dear editor’s birthday fell on a juernes, let’s just say he took full advantage. ¡Felicidades, Simon!
VIERNES /be-YER-nez/ – FRIDAY
Our final weekday is ‘viernes’ and brings us rather spookily to the unluckiest of days; ‘Friday 13th’. Conjuring up images of horror in the western world thanks to Hollywood, the Spaniards however, take a different view of this recognisable date. In Spain, it is not Friday 13th which is unlucky, but Tuesday 13th.
On doing some research into the Tuesday/Friday switcheroo, Tuesday makes far more sense as it relates to Mars, the God of War and not to some old guy who thought both Friday and the 13th day were unlucky, and then happened to die on that very date. I don’t think so Gioachino Rossini, Tuesday it is.
EL FIN DE SEMANA – THE WEEKEND
SÁBADO /SA-ba-doe/ – SATURDAY
My favourite day of the week kicks off the weekend and in Palma during the non-beach-going days that can only mean ‘tardeo’ /tar-day-oh/ or what the English-speaking world has known as ‘afternoon drinking’ for donkey’s years. A pun on ‘tarde’ meaning afternoon and ‘tapeo’ going out for tapas, ‘tardeo’ has become just as much a Palma institution as ‘La Ruta Martiana’, but tends to appeal more to those in their late 30s, and 40s than to twenty-somethings and teens, who prefer late-night revelling.
Lining the streets of Santa Catalina and surroundings on any given Saturday in winter, you will find dozens of locals dabbling in a bit of tardeo (although it doesn’t seem that way from my photos). Usually starting at 13h-13:30h in the Santa Catalina market, you can see punters taking advantage of the standing room in the southwest entrance; well-dressed Palmesanos knocking back beers and munching on tapas. As the market winds down at around 17h, they mosey on down to Avenida Argentina’s Kaelum, the original home of tardeo, or Plaza Vapor’s Luna and other bars in the vicinity for some dancing and continued quaffing. Growing in popularity every year, an increasing number of bars are posting offers and promotions as a way of spicing up those boring winter Saturday afternoons.
DOMINGO /doe-MIN-go/ – SUNDAY
The Lord’s Day brings us ‘domingo’, the day of rest or the day where the whole of Mallorca seemingly decides to go for a bit of a drive. On that drive you might come across a Sunday driver – someone who drives slowly or just plain badly. This driving phenomenon had transcended nations and therefore languages and the idea of the ‘dominguero’ also exists in Spanish. If you haven’t found one yet, just make your way to your nearest roundabout or slip road and I’m sure you’ll come across Señor/a Dominguero.
And so domingo concludes our week and our article this MONTH – I wonder where to go next?
Glossary
Sa Gerreria – area of Palma city around Plaza Cuadrado/the Old Town
Tapas golf – moving from bar to bar having a drink and a tapa in each one
Zurito – half a caña (beer), usually around 100ml
Tapa – an accompaniment of food with a beer, often served on bread
Anti-swear word – a substitute for a swear word, often similar in sound
Gioachino Rossini – old guy who hated Fridays and the number 13.
Tardeo – the custom of drinking earlier on a Saturday
Tapeo – going out for tapas
Palmesano – native/resident of Palma
By Alex Stocker
