Meeting of Giants at Sant Marçal Church. Autumn Fair 2008

The Giants of Santanyí
Bernat Cinclaus,the Santanyi giant

The giant Bernat Cinclaus and the giantess Maria Ramis are made from fibreglass and aluminium. Each weighs 32 kilos and measures 3.50 metres. They were baptised on 23 July 2002 and their godparents were Vicenç the Manacor giant and Margalida the giantess from Sa Pobla.

The personages they represent are deeply embedded in local folklore and specifically in the es Llombards area. There is documentary evidence of the Cinclaus family between 1309 and 1453. They seem to have been a family of some standing. Its members held distinguished posts such as royal writer or councillor and they owned extensive estates in the area.

Legend relates that Bernat Cinclaus had great magical powers and had five demons under his command, each of whom had a golden key enabling him to open any door; these are the five golden keys embroidered on his gown and on his coat of arms. It was said he could control the rain, the large birds of prey and could multiply or destroy the harvest at will, depending upon whether it belonged to friend or foe. Or that he had an underground tunnel from the Almunia Tower so that he could reach Palma in five minutes. Centuries after his death, spectral images were still said to be appearing in the Tower.

The Tower is also the setting of other legends of Bernat but here he is accompanied by Maria Ramis. One legend says they were husband and wife and they were living in the tower after building it themselves. Bernat laid the stones that Maria brought him from the Bauça talayot and that she had the strength to carry them because she was half male and half female. Other legends speak of their encounters with pirates, Moors and corsairs attacking the tower. Another of the kidnap of their daughter. And yet another that there was a passageway from the tower so that Bernat could quickly inform King Jaume of the presence of invaders.

Bandera española

Maria Ramis, the Santanyí giantess