Martina Fedelich, Madona of Son Piris 

Miriam Triay / Ciutadella – Martina Fedelich has lived and coexisted in the Menorcan countryside all her life. From a farming family, she married very young, in 1996, with David Pons Herrera, a Ciutadella native who, despite coming from the village, had a taste and desire to work the land. Thus, her path followed in the footsteps of her ancestors, and currently, she is the Madonna of the place of Son Piris. Who works, together with her husband, and her son.

From Foodies, once again, we wanted to give voice to the Menorcan countryside, and to the figure of women in it; showing, at all times, the importance of the primary sector for our economy and society. That is why we talked to Martina.

How did the Madona of Son Piris end up?
My family has been dedicated to the countryside all my life. And although I had never considered whether or not I wanted to follow in their footsteps, when I met my current husband, it was clear to me. He came from a village, but from a very young age I knew that I wanted to work the land.

That's how, in 1996, we got married and moved to Cavalleria Vella. In this place we dedicated ourselves to making cheese for sixteen years. Until 2012, we moved to Son Piris, where we have been to this day.

We have only been to two places during our career. We have been lucky, we have not had to move much.

From what you say, you had not considered it, but… did you have alternative ideas to working the land?

No, I had never considered it. Neither one thing nor the other, but I had seen life in the countryside since I was a child. And in the end, it is something that you carry inside, that you feel. If you don't like it very much, and you don't live it completely, you can't dedicate yourself to it. I'll tell you. It is too hard and dedicated work, for anyone to do it.

And how would you define Son Piris, the place where you are currently?
It's not a very big place, really. But well, as I always say, if you're not very big, you can control the quality of what you do more, which is the most important thing. So, in our house there are three people who work the land. My husband, my son and I. And we dedicate ourselves to making cheese, as we already did at Cavalleria Vella.

In fact, when we entered in 2012, the place only sold milk, no cheese was made. So we had to set up the cheese factory, and start from scratch. At first, we sold the soft cheese to a ripener, who also marketed it. Until, in 2016, we created our own brand, and since then we have been ripening and marketing our own cheese.

All the production is entirely yours, right?

No. There is a part that the Cooperativa del Camp de Menorca buys from us, and they ripen and market it, under the name Meloussa.

And we also sell milk to Coinga. This allows us that, if we have any unforeseen circumstances; we are sick, we have to go on a trip, or whatever, at least this part is already placed and sold. Otherwise it would be a constant pain.

And you only sell cheese and milk, right? Is that your specialty?

In Son Piris, in addition to having about sixty cows, we also have a few sheep and some pigs. Which we also market, but we do not work on. We are specialized, only, in cheese and milk, yes.

How do you work at Son Piris? What are the tasks that each of you who work there has?
Each one has their own more specific tasks, in which we specialize. But there are also other tasks that we all do a little bit.

For example, I am more in charge of the ripening issue, and the bureaucracy. My son is more in charge of the animals. And my husband is in charge of the cheese making. However, when it is time to go milking, we all go there. When we make cheese, all three of us make cheese. I mean that even though we have more specific tasks, we all do everything.

And how would you define your role, Idó? What is it like to be the madona?

You have many roles.

I believe that women in the countryside, nowadays, are a key part. And that this is increasingly seen and known. That we have more visibility than before.

But well, being a madona is not only about living in the countryside, it is about getting involved in the work, and in everything that goes behind it.

And I think that life is different in each place. It is not like before, when perhaps there were more specific tasks established by the madonas, and others by the owners. Now, each place is a world. Not because you are a woman you have to do or have to do a specific job.

Before, for example, only men milked, now, as I have said, I am one of the three in charge of going to milk.

And I, for example, do not like driving the tractor, but I know that there are women who do, and who do it. Before, it would be unthinkable.

With this, we have evolved and changed a lot. Now it is understood that women within the place have a fundamental role, and just as changing as that of men. That they are capable of doing whatever they set their minds to. Therefore, I don't see any differences between men and women.

You mentioned earlier that this is a very hard job… at what point would you say you are at?
I think we are at a point where we are being hindered by everything. Our job is already heavy, physical and exhausting enough, as we have to fill out more and more paperwork, and we have to pay more to be able to market our products. It seems like it should be the other way around, that being such an important sector of our society, they should lighten things up a bit, make it easier for us. Not really. They are adding more and more things, more controls, more paperwork, more inspections…

It is very difficult, our world. And I think it is very sad that instead of helping us, they are suffocating us more and more. I don’t know if we can hold out much longer at this pace, because after all the hard work we do, they are giving us less and less and asking for more.

What do you mean by this?

Look, with the topic of prices, for example. Maybe you go to the supermarket and think that cheese is getting more and more expensive. But have you ever stopped to think about all the work that goes into making cheese? I think that many times no, that people are not aware of it. That is why in Son Piris we started organizing visits, so that people could come and see everything that cheese involves and everything that it hides. Because we believe that it is very important for people to see how it is made, to understand its price and value.

And yet, cheese from Menorca is sold very cheaply. Because many times we have seen cheeses from abroad being sold for forty euros a kilo. You won't find any from Menorca at that price.

But well, we will continue to fight and do our best. To maintain ourselves and hold on. And let's see how long we can.

These visits that you mention... what do they consist of?

We started doing them with the Cooperativa del Camp. And the truth is that it has been quite popular. People come, see how the cheese is made, we explain all the processes and what they consist of, and then they end up tasting it. As I say, we started organizing them so that people would understand and be aware of what is behind it. But the truth is that we have been surprised by the number of people who want to come and who are interested.