February in Mallorca brings almond blossom…and sometimes more

It didn’t for us. We were both sleeping soundly when a low-intensity earthquake happened in Mallorca during the early hours of Tuesday.

The ‘quake measured between two and three on the Richter scale (according to the National Geographic Institute), with its epicentre between the village of Petra and the town of Manacor, at a depth of nine kilometres. The same area suffered a much stronger earthquake in 1919.

A rude awakening…for some

It was around three o’clock this morning that vibrations woke sleeping residents in the area. If they slept through the gentle shaking, they probably woke when all the dogs in the neighbourhood began their concert of barking.

The good news is that the earthquake apparently caused no damage to people or property, although I imagine some of the good citizens of Petra will have had to straighten any pictures on their walls this morning.

The first we knew about the earthquake – which happened not too far from where we live – was reading about it on social media. I immediately went around the rooms of our home, expecting to find pictures hanging at jaunty angles, but there wasn’t a wonky one anywhere.

Sun and ‘snow’

It’s almond-blossom time here in Mallorca and we’ve had some beautiful weather to go with it. Temperatures have, in the past few days, been around 10 degrees Celsius higher than is usual for this time of year.

Although it’s a treat to have calm conditions and temperatures in the low twenties – especially after the recent destructive Storm Gloria – it’s another sign of climate change. As we drank our coffee outside yesterday, basking in warm sunshine, it was hard to believe that on February the 4th, 2012, snow fell all across the island (unusually, even in the capital, Palma de Mallorca).

An orange tree in Camp de Mar in February 2012

At the time, The Boss’s cousin and wife had just arrived in the southwest resort of Camp de Mar for a walking holiday. Their plans altered when they woke one morning to find the unexpected snowfall. Our drive down to visit them was quite memorable.

Almond blossom petals are the only ‘snowfall’ we’re experiencing at the moment; I imagine the ‘snowfall’ around Petra was somewhat heavier during the earthquake.

By the way, if you’re feeling a little envious of our warm weather, I should tell you that today is forecast to be seven degrees cooler than yesterday, at around 14 Celsius. That’s much more like February in Mallorca!

Jan Edwards©2020