Es Mercadal has officially begun the countdown to its Sant Martí festivities, with a proclamation given this year by Pepita Oliver Lorite, aged 89, one of the town’s best-known residents.
An interview instead of a speech
Rather than a traditional speech, the proclamation took the form of an interview led by Damià Coll, who guided Pepita through the memories of a life closely bound to the town.
From Morocco to Menorca
Pepita was born on 17 June 1937 in Morocco, where her father, José Oliver Osuna, a soldier from Granada, was stationed. Her mother, Pilar Lorite Rodríguez, from Jaén, died when Pepita was two years old. Her father later married Maria Galmès Villalonga, from Es Mercadal, who became a mother figure to her.
The family moved to Menorca, living first in Maó and then in Ciutadella. After losing her father too, Pepita was brought up by relatives.
Love at a village festival
At 18, at her first village festival, at Sant Bartomeu in Ferreries, she met Jaume Martí Allès, from Ferreries, who had grown up on Monte Toro. They married in 1961 and decided to make Es Mercadal their home.
Mobles Martí
Together they opened Mobles Martí, the first furniture shop in the town. Pepita recalled that Es Mercadal was then a farming town with no industry to speak of, and that opening a shop was her way of getting to know people.
The early days were hard work. Furniture was moved around the village by wheelbarrow, and for deliveries to Maó or Ciutadella they hired a lorry. She also remembered, with a laugh, the day they carried a sofa on top of their Seat 600.
The couple had two sons, Cristóbal and José, who still run the shop. Pepita says she still drops in from time to time to see what is new.
The start of the fiestas
After the interview, the Banda des Mercadal played the first festive tunes and the town council offered the traditional first pomada — gin with lemonade — marking the start of the run-up to Sant Martí.
Pepita’s story of resilience, hard work and community — from North Africa to the heart of Menorca — set the tone for a festival that, like all of Menorca’s summer fiestas, is above all about the town and its people.
