The king of big beat proved exactly why he remains one of the world’s most celebrated DJs as Fatboy Slim delivered an electrifying performance at Es Jardí in Calvià, transforming a warm Mallorcan night on Friday July 3 into one giant open-air dancefloor.

From the moment Norman Cook stepped behind the decks, thousands of fans erupted, with the iconic British DJ unleashing hit after hit from a career spanning more than four decades. It was a celebration of dance music at its finest, as Mallorca turned out in force to praise him (as they should.)

A soundtrack of dance music classics

The crowd barely had a moment to catch its breath as Fatboy Slim rolled through an arsenal of timeless anthems. “The Rockafeller Skank” immediately ignited the audience, while favourites including “Praise You”, “Right Here, Right Now” and “Weapon of Choice” prompted thousands of voices to sing every word back to the stage.

True to form, Cook blended his biggest hits with inventive mash-ups and remixes, seamlessly weaving classic tracks into modern dance beats. One standout moment came during a remix incorporating an Elton John classic, accompanied by spectacular visuals that lit up the huge LED screens and perfectly complemented the music.

The production matched the performance throughout, with vibrant graphics, dazzling lighting and immersive visuals adding another dimension to an already unforgettable evening.

An electric atmosphere under the stars

There was a festival buzz from the moment gates opened, but as darkness fell the energy reached another level. Fans of all ages packed the venue, dancing from the opening beats until the final track.

Fatboy Slim has always had a unique ability to unite audiences, and that spirit was on full display. Every iconic drop was greeted with deafening cheers, creating the kind of communal atmosphere that has become synonymous with his live shows.

One of dance music’s greatest showmen

Born Norman Cook in Surrey, England, Fatboy Slim became one of the defining figures of the 1990s big beat movement. His groundbreaking albums, including You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, helped bring dance music into the mainstream, earning him a Grammy Awards, multiple Brit Awards and worldwide acclaim. Even after more than 40 years behind the decks, he continues to headline major festivals across the globe while reinventing his live performances.

Es Jardí continues to grow

The concert also showcased why Es Jardí has become one of Mallorca’s standout summer music destinations. Set within the former Mallorca Live venue in Calvià, the boutique open-air concert series combines international headline acts with Mediterranean surroundings, food, culture and an increasingly impressive production. This year’s edition introduced a redesigned main stage with new LED screens, alongside expanded cultural and hospitality spaces, making the experience bigger than ever.

If Fatboy Slim’s opening night is anything to go by, Es Jardí’s 2026 season is set to be one of its most memorable yet.

Evacuation numbers were raised to 188 on Monday night from a forest fire near Grazalema, a village in Cadiz province. The start of the blaze began shortly after 1pm at El Alamillo in the Sierra de Grazalema mountain area, near Ronda. Evacuations affected second homes in the Gadiovar area and roughly a dozen hotels plus rural lodges nearby.

Smoke and ash spread quickly to the nearby village of Zahara de la Sierra and appeared visible from Algodonales and from Ronda.

Rapid spread forces road closures

Flames advanced into Las Veguetas and crossed over the main road to Ronda. Closures hit that road and the Grazalema-Zahara link via Ribera del Gaidovar, where more evacuations continued. Slopes and valleys in the park helped the fire move faster than expected.

Extensive resources tackle blaze

Andalucia’s emergency agency activated INFOCA operational ‘situation one’ (the highest alert) over risks to people and property. An advanced command post was opened in Grazalema’s main square, previously used in the dramatic February floods.

Over 150 ground workers as well as 15 aircraft were sent to tackle the fire. Focus was kept on the right flank, advancing to Ribera del Gaidovar with a pending possible southerly wind change that would increase intensity.

Initial evacuation figures break down

Numbers included 60 guests at the Hotel Fuerte in Grazalema, 40 from nearby homes and nine from La Vegueta. Even more residents were forced to leave Ribera del Gaidovar later. Flames had not reached the hotel or houses so far, though rural spots with animals were seriously exposed.

Temporary housing options made available

Staff opened El Olivar pavilion for those displaced. Only one family used it at first while most went to second family homes in the village. Zahara de la Sierra prepared its town hall function room for people affected by road cuts and trapped in the area.

Leaders stress precautionary approach

Vice President Antonio Sanz of the Junta de Andalucia said that this was a second major challenge for Grazalema after the floods. He issued a message calling for calm, and confirming resources focused on saving inhabited areas. Elevated temperatures and the Levante wind kept influencing the fire in the rugged sierra terrain. Officials warned evacuation totals could rise further.

For millions of people, the Mediterranean means beach holidays, turquoise water and lazy afternoons by the sea. Yet far below the yachts, swimmers and sunseekers, something remarkable has been happening unnoticed for thousands of years.

Scientists have discovered giant heat ‘flames’ rising from the Mediterranean seabed, with some reaching around 100 metres high. It sounds like the start of a disaster movie, but the reality is far less dramatic and far more fascinating.

These aren’t flames in the usual sense. There’s no fire, no lava and no underwater volcano erupting beneath holiday hotspots. Instead, they’re slow-moving columns of slightly warmer seawater, gently rising from the seabed so gradually that nobody at the surface could ever see or feel them.

The discovery comes after researchers spent three years watching one of the deepest parts of the western Mediterranean using an enormous network of underwater sensors. For the first time, they were able to create detailed three-dimensional images showing how these hidden plumes form, drift upwards and disappear back into the surrounding water.

Hidden nearly 2.5 kilometres below the Mediterranean

To find these invisible structures, scientists had to go where almost nobody else can.

The research team placed nearly 3,000 ultra-sensitive temperature sensors on the seabed around 2,500 metres below the surface. Spread across 45 mooring lines, the instruments continuously recorded tiny temperature changes over a three-year period, allowing researchers to watch the deep sea in unprecedented detail.

What they found surprised them.

Tiny amounts of heat escaping naturally through the Earth’s crust warm the water sitting directly above the seabed. Because warmer water is slightly lighter than colder water, it slowly rises, creating tall columns that resemble flickering flames when turned into computer visualisations.

Some of these plumes stretched around 100 metres above the seabed, yet the temperature difference between the warmer water and its surroundings was astonishingly small, often measuring just thousandths or even ten-thousandths of a degree Celsius.

That’s why they’ve remained hidden for so long. Without highly specialised equipment, they simply can’t be detected.

They’re invisible, harmless and happening all the time

The word ‘flames‘ may sound alarming, but it’s really just a way of describing their shape.

Nothing is burning beneath the Mediterranean, and there is absolutely no risk to swimmers, divers or coastal communities. The plumes are made entirely of seawater and form almost two and a half kilometres below the surface.

By the time any of that gentle warming mixes into the surrounding ocean, the temperature difference has effectively disappeared.

The researchers also noticed something else. These geothermal plumes weren’t always acting alone.

Around 40 per cent of the time, warmer water arriving from elsewhere in the Mediterranean swept across the seabed, creating even stronger mixing than the geothermal heat itself. In the computer reconstructions, these moving masses looked more like drifting clouds than rising flames, constantly reshaping the deep-water landscape.

Until now, scientists could only study these kinds of movements in limited detail. The vast sensor network allowed them to watch the entire process unfold in three dimensions, revealing a hidden world that had never been seen like this before.

Why this hidden world matters

You might wonder why anyone should care about tiny temperature changes taking place so deep underwater.

The answer lies in the way the ocean stays alive.

The deep sea isn’t a still, silent place. Even without waves or sunlight, water is constantly moving, carrying oxygen, nutrients and organic material that help sustain marine life. The newly observed heat plumes are part of that natural mixing process.

The study suggests that these slow, invisible movements work alongside underwater currents and internal waves to keep deep Mediterranean waters circulating. Without that constant mixing, life on the seabed would struggle to access the oxygen and nutrients it depends on.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the discovery is how ordinary it really is.

These giant heat plumes are not a new phenomenon. They’ve almost certainly been rising from the Mediterranean floor for thousands of years, completely unnoticed by the millions of people enjoying the sea above them.

Only now, thanks to one of the largest deep-sea monitoring projects ever carried out, have scientists finally been able to watch this hidden underwater world in action, revealing that one of Europe’s most familiar seas still holds spectacular secrets beneath its surface.