Enjoy the Virgen de Carmen Fiesta on a Menorca villa holiday

The port city is particularly attractive in July, when locals come out in force to celebrate an important patron saint.

Tributes to the Virgen de Carmen - who protects sailors and fishermen - are marked with a series of colourful processions and parties.

However, the main diversion features the local people who entrust their lives to the saint every day they set off from shore.

Fisherman and their boats congregate in the evening for a special blessing bestowed by an image of the saint that is paraded from church.

During the ceremony, seamen ask for safe travels over the coming year before the icon is returned to the church.

Aside from the festival, Mahon has a host of other attractions to keep families busy away from the villa, including a gin distillery and one of the largest natural harbours in the world.

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