Lloret, aviators and an angels' removals firm

If you are an aviator, December 10 was a big day. You can be the pilot of a humble glider, be at the controls of a Jumbo or be a Spanish Air Force fighter pilot. There is no discrimination. December 10 applied to you all, and that's because of some angels who effected the miraculous transfer of the Nazareth house of the Virgin Mary to the Dalmatian coast in 1291 and then repeated the miracle three years later - on December 10 - this time landing the house in Italy.

Had the angels been required to transport the holy house a fortnight later, they might have been in need of air traffic control. But only might, as reindeer weren't active in an airborne sense in the thirteenth century. The angels had clear airspace to deliver their gift in time for Christmas, and the house duly ended up on the Adriatic coast.

How the locals reacted to this house suddenly appearing is not known. It would have been like Doctor Who's Tardis materialising unannounced, while planning regulations were no doubt sufficiently lax in those days to turn a blind eye. Nowadays, it would be: "I don't care if it is a holy house, this is rustic land classified as non-developable." The demolition squad would be on stand-by.

As things turned out, there was a sort of planning issue regarding this movable house. But that came at the end of its remarkable journey, which was ... . The house in which Mary had grown up and later shared with Joseph and Jesus was threatened by Muslim troops after the Crusaders were expelled. It was therefore relocated to what is now Trsat in Croatia. Here, there was a different threat. Bandits. So the angels removals firm was pressed into service again and carried it off to a place near Ancona on the Adriatic. The woods where it was deposited led to the name Laureto (also Loreto).

However, for some reason it then moved to a place near Recanati, where there were more concerns - this time because of pirates. Eventually, and after a couple of local counts had been competing to see who could profit most from pilgrimages, the house ended up where it was to remain, and this was to ensure that it wasn't on private property. The Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto enshrines the house.

As an aviator, you have more than the angels to thank. There is also Pope Benedict XV. In March 1924, he named the Lady of Loreto the patron of all aeronauts and aviators. For the Spanish Air Force, the intervention of King Alfonso XIII was also needed. Later in 1924, the pope having started the patronage ball rolling, the king made the Lady of Loreto the force's patron.

The combined efforts of pope and king were to have ramifications for a small place in Majorca, which owed absolutely nothing to aviation (as far as one is aware, at any rate). The patronage not only boosted the reputation of the convent to Our Lady of Loreto in Lloret, it was to also be remarkable in terms of a coincidence.

For this story, we have to return to roughly the same era as when angels could airlift entire houses. A couple of centuries prior to this, a common was established in the Majorcan countryside. Sa Comuna, sometimes translated as commune, but otherwise a common for use by the common man (no private property involved) was created in the twelfth century on what was a Muslim farm estate known as Manresa.

This name, Manresa, was how Lloret de Vistalegre used to officially be known. The official name, it would seem, was never officially dropped. It just happened, and that was because the common will of the common man entitled to the use of the common determined that there should be a different name - Llorito. As is often the case when it comes to the naming of places in Majorca, the reason for having adopted Llorito isn't as straightforward as might be thought. There are theories to suggest that it wasn't because the convent of Our Lady of Loreto had been founded.

These theories notwithstanding, it is generally accepted (and logical) that the convent was the reason. The devotion of Our Lady in what was officially still Manresa brought about the name change. Llorito was the name. But there were other versions. Laureto was one, Lloret another. It is argued that Lloret was in fact the original Mallorquín name.

And so Lloret (or Llorito) was how it became. Which brings us to 1924 - Pope Benedict, King Alfonso and all. In that year, the process commenced to split Llorito from the municipality of Sineu. This was the coincidence, the separate municipality, officially Lloret, formally coming into being in 1925. And as there were various other Llorets, the decision was taken to differentiate the Majorcan Lloret by manufacturing a longer name - de Vista Alegre (nice view, if you like). It was 2000 when Vista and Alegre were joined to make Lloret de Vistalegre.

Back to list