An interesting and humorous account of her relationship with the town

Deborah Hellyer honoured by invitation to be "pregonera"

Well done. The British Vice Consul has been congratulated by phone, letter and e-mail

Speaking in Castellano, the British Vice-Consul delivered her speech from the balcony of the Town Hall, heralding the commencement of Sant Lluís´s fiestas

C.M.W..Maó

The British Vice-Consul stated that she felt doubly honoured to have been invited to act as the herald of Sant Lluís fiestas; firstly because she had been asked by the Town Council and, secondly, because she is a foreigner (and it is rare for a non-Spanish person to be offered the privilege of acting in this capacity).

Deborah Hellyer said that she had thoroughly enjoyed putting her speech together and had even enjoyed delivering it, not feeling as nervous as she had anticipated despite the fact that she was talking in Castellano, a language which she speaks fluently but is still not her native tongue.

The Vice-Consul´s thirty years on the island provided her with many of the amusing anecdotes which interspersed her account of her relationship with Menorca in general and Sant Lluís in particular. Photographs projected onto a screen illustrated the way in which the island has changed over the three decades since Deborah first arrived here in 1970 for a family holiday in Alcalfar, a time when Son Saura (now Son Parc) was a virgin beach with no access road. The audience was led through the "hippy years" of the 1970´s, when Deborah and a friend lived in S´Uestra during the summer months and worked as tour representatives (driving around in "flower power" Fiat 500´s), years when there was a pronounced cultural difference between the U.K. and Menorca, to the present time when there are more similarities than differences.

She talked of meeting "Santlluïser" Carlos Coll, who became her husband in 1974, her wholehearted acceptance by his family and the arrival of their two daughters, Victoria and Luisa. Moving on to more recent times she talked of her work as British Vice-Consul, an honorary position which she has held for the last 14 years and which led to her being awarded the M.B.E. in 2003 in recognition of her work on the island. Deborah, who travelled to London that summer with her husband and two daughters for the presentation of the award, said that "words cannot describe the emotion experienced during our visit to Buckingham Palace and the honour of receiving the medal from the Queen herself". She added "I have a lot to thank Menorca for - had I not come to live here, to have been appointed Vice-Consul, the memories of that wonderful day would never be mine".

After thanking the Sant Lluís Council for inviting her to act as herald of the fiestas she went on to thank the townspeople for accepting her and added that, with their permission, she can now consider herself to be a "Santlluïsera" (a woman from Sant Lluís).