Next Saturday, January 14, Menorca will for the fifth year running be marking the Lighting of Towers, Watchtowers and Talayots of the Mediterranean: a Song for Human Rights, an initiative founded in Mallorca which aims to raise public awareness on behalf of Human Rights in support of refugees forced to emigrate in search of a new home. The event is open to the general public, and forms part of the programme of activities celebrating the island's patron saint, the Diada del Poble de Menorca, Sant Antoni 2023.
Towers, watchtowers and talayots will be lit up simultaneously around the whole of the Mediterranean, with smoke flares during the day, and light flares at night. Various locations will be taking apart around the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland coast, as well as in Greece and North Africa.
In Menorca, the event will this year focus on two unique locations, one for each of the times scheduled for the lighting up:
- On Saturday, January 14, at 1:00 p.m. smoke flares will go off at the talayots at the Torre d'en Galmés site in Alaior. There will be a reading of the manifesto of the initiative, this year drawn up by Amnesty International, while Annabel Villalonga and Joan Carles Villalonga will accompany proceedings with the song Viatge a Ítaca [Voyage to Ithaca], by Lluís Llach. The ceremony will end with the staging of the micro-play Este sol, ¿está ahí para todos? [Is This Sun There for Everyone?].
- On the same day, at 5:00 p.m., the venue switches to Ciutadella, at the Montefí site, starting with a lecture by Assuès López entitled Migrations on the Mediterranean. This will be followed by a re-reading of the manifesto, and the song, while the event will end with flares lighting up the talayots at the site around 6:00 p.m.
This initiative by the Consell Insular de Menorca, supported by the Talayotic Menorca Agency, actively involves organisations including the Fons Menorquí de Cooperació and Amnesty International, as well as the Menorca Scouts and ASSORME.
All those wishing to take part in the event or support the initiative can attend the activities scheduled for January 14 free of charge (no prior registration is required).