A poem by Miquel Àngel Adrover Perelló and a drawing by Rita Mercadal Juan have been chosen for this year’s Sant Joan stamp in Ciutadella, the traditional commemorative print issued for the Missa des Caixers.
The selection
A jury chaired by the mayor of Ciutadella, Maria Jesús Bagur, met on 28 May to choose the work. Each year the stamp pairs a text and an image that capture the spirit of the Sant Joan festivities, Menorca’s best-known celebration, and it has become a collectable keepsake for many Ciutadella families.
The poet
Miquel Àngel Adrover was born in Campos, Mallorca, in 1994. He studied Catalan language and literature at the University of the Balearic Islands and works as a secondary school teacher. He is a member of the Associació de Glosadors de Mallorca, the group that keeps alive the tradition of improvised and written verse known as glosa.
His written verse has won several prizes, including:
- the Josep Vivó prize in Menorca;
- two wins at the Festa des Vermar in Binissalem;
- the Miquel Bauçà award in 2023, for Les cares de la cugula;
- the Joan F. López Casasnovas prize in Ferreries in 2024.
His first book was published in 2019.
The illustrator
Rita Mercadal was born in Ciutadella in 1997. She studied design in Barcelona and later trained in Madrid as a teacher of visual arts. She describes her work as rooted in her own experiences and in her connection with Menorca’s landscape.
Her work has been shown in Barcelona and Menorca, and she has taken part in:
- the Balconades d’Art Jove in Alaior (2021);
- street art festivals in Ciutadella (2020 and 2023);
- live painting in Es Migjorn Gran (2024).
A meeting of two islands
The choice brings together a Mallorcan glosador and a young Ciutadella artist, combining one of the Balearics’ oldest oral traditions with contemporary illustration. Together, the poem and drawing will become part of the visual memory of this year’s Sant Joan, joining a long series of stamps that collectors and Ciutadella residents keep year after year.
