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By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
THE Balearics starts its Europe Day celebrations this morning with three days of events and activities in commemoration of May 9, 1950 on which the first move was made towards the creation of what is now known as the European Union.

The Balearic government and island councils have organised a host of events as part of Europe Week in each of the main islands and Calvia, probably the most multicultural municipality in the Balearics, is hosting its own Europe day fair this Sunday on Palmanova sea front.

This morning, the Balearic Minister for Commerce, Industry and Energy, Francesca Vives, will open the Inter Cultural Dialogue Fair on the Borne which will run until Friday evening.

The fair has been organised as a showcase for the various languages, cultures and customs present in Majorca and will be open exclusively for educational school trips during the mornings and the general public in the afternoon .

The Minister explained yesterday that the four primary objectives of the Inter Cultural Fair is to provide school children with a different perspective of immigrants, to enable them to meet and talk to people of other cultures and languages, to fight racism and try to create an environment where various cultures can live together in harmony and also to break down the negative attitudes to different cultures.

There will also be a European Union information centre set up by the Balearic European centre which was founded 22 years ago.
The Balearic government will bring its Europe Week, which started on Monday in Ibiza, to a close with the official celebration of Europe Day, presided over by the Balearic President Francesc Antich, at the Consolat de la Mar government headquarters in Palma.

At 8.30 pm the European Union Flag will be hoisted and a choir will sing the European Union anthem.
Calvia's Europe Day fair and celebrations kick off at 12.30 on Sunday and will go on until 10pm.
This year, over 75 stands have been set up and a wide range of international food and drink will be available as well as art. crafts, jewelry, clothing, health products and even spiritual healing
Calvia Council has also organised a host of activities for people of all cultures and ages.
There will be live music of a vast range of styles and from many different countries, face painting, bouncy castle and trampolines.
The live music will continue all day on the main stage and thousands of people from Calvia and elsewhere on the island are expected to join together and join the celebrations.