Balearic Islands

TheBalearic Islandsare anarchipelagoin the westernMediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of theIberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms aprovinceandautonomous communityof Spain, withPalma de Mallorcabeing its capital and largest city.
Formerly part of theKingdom of Mallorca, the islands were made a province in the 19th century provincial division, which in 1983 received aStatute of Autonomy. In its later reform of 2007, the Statute designates the Balearic Islands as one of thenationalitiesofSpain.The officiallanguagesof the Balearic Islands areCatalanandSpanish.
The archipelago islands are further grouped in westernPytiuses(the largest beingIbizaandFormentera), and easternGymnesians(the largest beingMallorcaandMenorca). Many of its minor islands and islets are close to the larger islands, includingCabrera,Dragonera, andS'Espalmador. It is the second largest and most populated archipelago in Spain, after theCanary Islands.
The islands have aMediterranean climate, and the four major islands are all popular tourist destinations. Ibiza, in particular, is known as an international party destination, attracting many of the world's most popularDJsto itsnightclubs.The islands' culture and cuisine are similar to those of the rest of Spain but have their own distinctive features.
The official name of the Balearic Islands inCatalanisIlles Balears, while in Spanish, they are known as theIslas Baleares.
The ancient Greeks usually adopted local names into their own language, but they called the islandsΓυμνησίαι/Gymnesiai, unlike either the native inhabitants of the islands, the Carthaginians, or the Romans, who called themΒαλεαρεῖς, with the Romans also calling them theBaleares.
The termBalearicmay derive fromGreek(Γυμνησίαι/GymnesiaeandΒαλλιαρεῖς/Balliareis).InLatin, it wasBaleares.
Of the various theories on the origins of the two ancient Greek and Latin names for the islands—GymnasiaeandBaleares—classical sources provide two.
According toLycophron'sAlexandraverses, the islands were calledΓυμνησίαι/Gymnesiae(γυμνός/gymnos, meaning 'naked' in Greek) because its inhabitants were often nude, probably because of the mostly balmy year-round climate. However, Strabo thought thatGymnesiaiprobably referred to the light equipment used by the Balearic troopsγυμνῆται/gymnetae.
Most of the ancient Greek and Roman writers thought that the name of the people, (βαλεαρεῖς/baleareis, fromβάλλω/ballo: ancient Greek meaning 'to launch') was based on their skill asslingers. However,Strabothought the name was of Phoenician origin. He observed that it was the Phoenician word for lightly armoured soldiers, which the ancient Greeks calledγυμνῆτας/gymnetas.The rootbalarguably suggests a Phoenician origin; Strabo, in Volume III, Book XIV of hisGeographysuggests that the name comes from the Phoenicianbalearides.
The Balearic Islands are on a raised platform called theBalearic Promontory, and were formed byuplift. They are cut by a network of northwest to southeastfaults.
The main islands of the autonomous community are Majorca (Mallorca), Menorca/Minorca (Menorca), Ibiza (Eivissa/Ibiza), and Formentera, all popular tourist destinations. Amongst the minor islands is Cabrera, the location of theCabrera Archipelago Maritime-Terrestrial National Park. Neighbours:Algeria(south),Spain'sCataloniaandValencian Community(west),France's South(north), andFrance'sCorsicaas well asItaly'sSardinia(east). The Balearic Islands province has the longest coastline of any provinces in Spain, with a length of coastline 1,428 kilometres.
The islands can be further grouped, with Majorca, Menorca, and Cabrera as theGymnesian Islands(Illes Gimnèsies), and Ibiza and Formentera as thePityusic Islands(Illes Pitiüsesofficially in Catalan), also referred to as the Pityuses (or sometimes informally in English as the Pine Islands). Many minor islands or islets are close to the biggest islands, such as Es Conills, Es Vedrà, Sa Conillera, Dragonera, S'Espalmador, S'Espardell, Ses Bledes, Santa Eulària, Plana, Foradada, Tagomago, Na Redona, Colom, L'Aire, etc.
TheBalearic Frontis a sea density regime north of the Balearic Islands on the shelf slope of the Balearic Islands, which is responsible for some of the surface-flow characteristics of theBalearic Sea.
Located in the west of theMediterranean Sea, the Balearic Islands have mostly typicalhot-summer Mediterranean climates(Köppen: Csa) with some high altitude areas having aWarm-summer Mediterranean climate(Köppen: Csb) in the island of Majorca. Thesemi-arid climate(Köppen: BSh and BSk) is also found in the Balearic Islands, mostly on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera but also in the southern part of Majorca.
The earliest known evidence of inhabitation of the Balearic Islands is dated to the3rd millennium BC, around 2500-2300 BC from the Iberian Peninsula or southern France, by people associated with theBell Beaker culture.
Little is recorded about the inhabitants of the islands during classical antiquity, though many legends exist. The story, preserved byLycophron, that certain shipwreckedGreek Boeotianswere cast nude on the islands, was evidently invented to account for the name Gymnesiae (Ancient Greek:Γυμνήσιαι). In addition,Diodorus Siculuswrites that the Greeks called the islands Gymnesiae because the inhabitants were naked (γυμνοί) during the summer time.Also, a tradition holds that the islands were colonized byRhodesafter theTrojan War.
The islands had a very mixed population. Several stories describing them as having unusual habits. Some have it that they went naked year-round (afolk etymologyclaims this inspired the islands’ name), some say they went naked only in the summer, some that they wore only sheepskins—until thePhoeniciansarrived and provided them with broad-bordered tunics.
Other stories have it that the inhabitants lived in hollow rocks and artificial caves, that their men were remarkable for their love of women and would trade three or four men to ransom one woman, that they had no gold or silver coin, and forbade the importation of the precious metals—so that those of them who served as mercenaries took their pay in wine and women instead of money. The RomanDiodorus Siculusdescribed their marriage and funeral customs (v. 18 book 6 chapter 5), noting that Roman observers found those customs peculiar.
In ancient times, the islanders of theGymnesian Islands(Illes Gimnèsies) constructedtalayots, and were famous for their skill with thesling. Asslingers, they served as mercenaries, first under theCarthaginians, and afterwards under theRomans. They went into battle ungirt, with only a smallbuckler, and a javelinburnt at the end, and in some cases tipped with a small iron point; but their effective weapons were their slings, of which each man carried three, wound round his head (Strabo p. 168; Eustath.), or, as seen in other sources, one round the head, one round the body, and one in the hand. (Diodorus) The three slings were of different lengths, for stones of different sizes; the largest they hurled with as much force as if it were flung from a catapult; and they seldom missed their mark. To this exercise, they were trained from infancy, in order to earn their livelihood as mercenary soldiers. It is said that the mothers allowed their children to eat bread only when they had struck it off a post with the sling.
The Phoenicians took possession of the islands in very early times;a remarkable trace of their colonisation is preserved in the town of Mago (MaóinMenorca). After the fall ofCarthagein 146 BC, the islands seem to have been virtually independent. Notwithstanding their celebrity in war, the people were generally very quiet and inoffensive.The Romans, however, easily found a pretext for charging them with complicity with the Mediterranean pirates, and they were conquered byQ. Caecilius Metellus, thence surnamed Balearicus, in 123 BC.Metellus settled 3,000 Roman and Spanish colonists on the larger island, and founded the cities ofPalmaandPollentia.The islands belonged, under theRoman Empire, to the conventus ofCarthago Nova(modern Cartagena), in theprovinceofHispania Tarraconensis, of which province they formed the fourth district, under the government of a praefectus pro legato. An inscription of the time ofNeromentions the PRAEF. PRAE LEGATO INSULAR. BALIARUM. (Orelli, No. 732, who, with Muratori, readsproforprae.) They were afterwards made a separate province, calledHispania Balearica, probably in the division of the empire underConstantine.
The two largest islands (the Balearic Islands, in their historical sense) had numerous excellent harbours, though rocky at their mouth, and requiring care in entering them (Strabo, Eustath.;Port Mahonis one of the finest harbours in the world). Both were extremely fertile in all produce, except wine and olive oil.They were celebrated for their cattle, especially for the mules of the lesser island; they had an immense number of rabbits, and were free from all venomous reptiles.Amongst the snails valued by the Romans as a diet was a species from the Balearic Isles calledcavaticaebecause they were bred in caves.Their chief mineral product was the red earth, calledsinope, which was used by painters.Their resin and pitch are mentioned byDioscorides.The population of the two islands is stated by Diodorus at 30,000.
The part of theMediterraneaneast of Spain, around the Balearic Isles, was calledMare Balearicum,orSinus Balearicus.
TheVandalsunderGensericconquered the Islands sometime between 461 and 468 during their war on theRoman Empire. However, in late 533 or early 534, following theBattle of Ad Decimum, the troops ofBelisariusreestablished control of the islands for the Romans. Imperial power receded precipitately in the western Mediterranean after the fall ofCarthageand theExarchate of Africato theUmayyad Caliphatein 698, and in 707 the islands submitted to the terms of an Umayyad fleet,which allowed the residents to maintain their traditions and religion as well as a high degree of autonomy. Now nominally both Byzantine and Umayyad, thede factoindependent islands occupied a strategic and profitable grey area between the competing religions and kingdoms of the western Mediterranean.The prosperous islands were thoroughly sacked by theSwedishVikingKingBjörn Ironsideand his brotherHasteinduring their Mediterranean raid of 859–862.
In 902, the heavy use of the islands as a pirate base provoked theEmirate of Córdoba, nominally the island's overlords, to invade and incorporate the islands into their state. However, the Cordoban emirate disintegrated in civil war and partition in the early eleventh century, breaking into smaller states calledtaifa.Mujahid al-Siqlabi, the ruler of theTaifa of Dénia, sent a fleet and seized control of the islands in 1015, using it as the base for subsequent expeditions toSardiniaandPisa. In 1050, the island's governor Abd Allah ibn Aglab rebelled and established the independentTaifa of Mallorca.
For centuries, the Balearic sailors and pirates had been masters of the western Mediterranean. But the expanding influence of the Italianmaritime republicsand the shift of power on the Iberian peninsula from the Muslim states to the Christian states left the islands vulnerable. A crusade was launched in 1113. Led byUgo da Parlascio EbriacoandArchbishopPietro Moriconiof theRepublic of Pisa, the expedition included 420 ships, a large army and a personal envoy fromPope Paschal II. In addition to the Pisans (who had been promised suzerainty over the islands by the Pope), the expedition included forces from the Italian cities ofFlorence,Lucca,Pistoia,Rome,Siena, andVolterra, fromSardiniaandCorsica. Catalan forces underRamon Berenguer,Hug II of Empúries, andRamon Folc II of Cardonacame from Spain andOccitanforces underWilliam V of Montpellier,Aimery II of Narbonne, andRaymond I of Bauxcame from France. The expedition also received strong support fromConstantine I of Logudoroand his base ofPorto Torres.
The crusade sacked Palma in 1115 and generally reduced the islands, ending their period as a great sea power, but then withdrew. Within a year, the now shattered islands were conquered by theBerberAlmoravid dynasty, whose aggressive, militant approach to religion mirrored that of the crusaders and departed from the island's history as a toleranthaven under Cordoba and thetaifa. The Almoravids were conquered and deposed in North Africa and on the Iberian Peninsula by the rivalAlmohad DynastyofMarrakechin 1147. Muhammad ibn Ganiya, the Almoravid claimant, fled to Palma and established his capital there. His dynasty, theBanu Ghaniya, sought allies in their effort to recover their kingdom from the Almohads, leading them to grant Genoa and Pisa their first commercial concessions on the islands. In 1184, an expedition was sent to recaptureIfriqiya(the coastal areas of what is today Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and western Libya) but ended in defeat. Fearing reprisals, the inhabitants of the Balearics rebelled against the Almoravids and accepted Almohad suzerainty in 1187.
On the last day of 1229, KingJames I of Aragoncaptured Palma after a three-month siege. The rest of Mallorca quickly followed. Menorca fell in 1232 and Ibiza in 1235. In 1236, James traded most of the islands toPeter I, Count of Urgellfor Urgell, which he incorporated into his kingdom. Peter ruled from Palma, but after his death without issue in 1258, the islands reverted by the terms of the deal to theCrown of Aragon.
James died in 1276, having partitioned his domains between his sons in his will. The will created a newKingdom of Mallorcafrom the Balearic islands and the mainland counties ofRoussillonorMontpellier, which was left to his sonJames II. However, the terms of the will specified that the new kingdom be a vassal state to theCrown of Aragon, which was left to his older brotherPeter. Chafing under the vassalage, James joined forces with the PopeMartin IVandPhilip III of Franceagainst his brother in theAragonese Crusade, leading to a 10-year Aragonese occupation before the islands were restored in the 1295Treaty of Anagni. The tension between the kingdoms continued through the generations until James' grandsonJames IIIwas killed by the invading army of Peter's grandsonPeter IVat the 1349Battle of Llucmajor. The Balearic Islands were then incorporated directly into the Crown of Aragon.
In 1469,Ferdinand II of Aragon(king of Aragon) andIsabella I of Castile(queen ofCastile) were married. After their deaths, their respective territories (until then governed separately) were governed jointly, in the person of their grandson, the EmperorCharles V. This can be considered the foundation of the modern Spanish state, albeit a decentralized one wherein the various component territories within the united crowns retained their particular historic laws and privileges.
The Balearic Islands were frequentlyattackedby Ottomans andBarbary piratesfrom North Africa;Formenterawas even temporarily abandoned by its population. In 1514, 1515 and 1521, the coasts of the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland were raided byTurkish privateersunder the command of theOttomanadmiral,Hayreddin Barbarossa. The Balearic Islands wereravaged in 1558by Ottoman corsairTurgut Reis, and 4,000 people were taken intoslavery.
The island ofMenorcawas aBritishdependencyfor most of the 18th century as a result of the 1713Treaty of Utrecht. This treaty—signed by theKingdom of Great Britainand theKingdom of Portugalas well as theKingdom of Spain, to end the conflict caused by theWar of the Spanish Succession—gaveGibraltarand Menorca to the Kingdom of Great Britain,SardiniatoAustria(both territories had been part of the Crown of Aragon for more than four centuries), andSicilyto theHouse of Savoy. In addition,Flandersand other European territories of the Spanish Crown were given to Austria. The islandfellto French forces, underArmand de Vignerot du Plessisin June 1756 and was occupied by them for the duration of theSeven Years' War.
The British re-occupied the island after the war but, with their military forces diverted away by theAmerican War of Independence, it fell to a Franco-Spanish force after aseven-month siege (1781–82). Spain retained it under theTreaty of Parisin 1783. However, during theFrench Revolutionary Wars, when Spain became an ally of France, it came under French rule.
Menorca was finally returned to Spain by theTreaty of Amiensduring the French Revolutionary Wars, followingthe last British occupation, which lasted from 1798 to 1802. The continued presence of British naval forces, however, meant that the Balearic Islands were never occupied by the French during theNapoleonic Wars.
The islands saw limited fighting in the 1936–1939Spanish Civil War, with Menorca and Formentera staying loyal to theRepublican Spanish Government, while the rest of the Balearic Islands supported the SpanishNationalists. The Republican forces recaptured Ibiza early in the conflict, but were unable to take control of Majorca in theBattle of Majorcain August 1936, an amphibious landing aimed at driving the Nationalists from the island and reclaiming it for the Republic. After the battle, Nationalist forces re-took Ibiza in September 1936. Menorca would be occupied by the Nationalists in February 1939 after theBattle of Menorca.
The cuisine of the islands can be grouped as part of widerCatalan,SpanishorMediterraneancuisines. It features much pastry, cheese, wine, pork and seafood.Sobrassadais a local pork sausage.Lobster stew(so-calledcaldereta) fromMenorca, is one of their most sought after dishes.Mayonnaiseis said to originate from the Menorcan city ofMaó(Mahón)which also producesits own cheese. Local pastries includeEnsaïmada,FlaóandCoca.
BothCatalanandSpanishare official languages in the islands. Virtually all residents of the Balearic Islands speak Spanish fluently. Most of the native speakers of Spanish in the islands have family roots elsewhere in Spain.
Catalan is designated as allengua pròpia, literallyown languagein its statute of autonomy. TheBalearic dialectfeatures several differences from standard Catalan. Typically, speakers of Balearic Catalan call their own language with a name specific to each island:Mallorquí,Menorquí,Eivissenc,Formenterenc. In 2003 74.6% of the Islands' residents knew how to speak Catalan (either Balearic or mainland) and 93.1% could understand it.The 2011 census, using slightly different phrasing, reported that 63.4% could fluently speak and 88.5% could understand Catalan.
Other languages, such asEnglish,French,GermanandItalian, are often spoken by locals, especially those who work in the tourism industry.
Circa 2016 the islands had 1,107,220 total residents; the figures of Germans and British respectively were 20,451 and 16,134. Between 2016 and 2017 people from other parts of Spain moved to the Balearics, while the foreign population declined by 2,000. In 2007 there were 29,189 Germans, 19,803 British, 17,935 Moroccans, 13,100 Ecuadoreans, 11,933 Italians, and 11,129 Argentines. The numbers of Germans, British, and South Americans declined between 2007 and 2017 while the largest-increasing populations were the Moroccans, Italians, and Romanians.
Circa 2017 there were 1,115,999 residents of the Balearics; 16.7% of the islands' population were foreign (non-Spanish). At that time the islands had 23,919 Moroccans, 19,209 Germans, 16,877 Italians, and 14,981 British registered in town halls. The next-largest foreign groups were the Romanians; the Bulgarians; the Argentines, numbering at 6,584; the French; the Colombians; and the Ecuadoreans, numbering at 5,437.
At the Census of 1 January 2021, the population had increased to 1,183,415 inhabitants.
Roman Catholicismis, by far, the largest religion in Balearic Islands. In 2012, the proportion of Balearicians that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 68.7%.Xueta Christianityis asyncreticreligion on the island ofMajorca,Spainfollowed by theXuetapeople, who are supposedly descendants of persecutedJewswho wereconverts to Christianity.
Each one of the four islands are administered, along with its surrounding minor islands and islets, by an insular council (consell insularin Catalan) of the same name. These four insular councils are the first level of subdivision in the autonomous community (and province) of Illes Balears.
Before administrative reform in 1977, Ibiza and Formentera formed a single insular council, covering the whole of the Pitiusic Islands.
The insular council of Mallorca is further subdivided into six comarques; three other comarques cover the same territory as the three remaining insular councils.
These nine comarques are then subdivided into municipalities (municipis), with the exception of Formentera, which is at the same time an insular council, a comarca, and a municipality.
Note that the maritime and terrestrial natural reserves in the Balearic Islands are not owned by the municipalities, even if they fall within their territory, but are owned and managed by the respective insular councils.
Those municipalities are further subdivided into civil parishes (parròquies), that are slightly larger than the traditional religious parishes.
On Ibiza and Formentera parishes are further divided into administrative villages (namedvéndesin Catalan); eachvéndais grouping several nearby hamlets (casaments) and their immediate surroundings. Thesecasamentsare traditionally formed by grouping together several cubic houses to form a defensive block with windows open to the east (against heat), sharing their collective precious water resources, whose residents decide and plan common collective works. However, these last levels of subdivisions do not have their own local administration: they are mostly natural economical units for agriculture (and consequently referenced in local norms for constructions and urbanisation as well) and the reference space for families (they may be appended to the names of people and their properties) and are still used in statistics. Historically, these structures had been used for defensive purpose as well, and were more tied to the local Catholic church and parishes (notably after theReconquista).
At the time of human arrival, the only terrestrial mammals native to the Balearic Islands were the dwarf goat-antelopeMyotragus, the giant dormouseHypnomys, and the shrewNesiotites hidalgowhich were found on Mallorca and Menorca, which became extinct shortly after human arrival. The only other terrestrial vertebrates native to the islands areLilford's wall lizard, which today is confined to offshore islets surrounding Mallorca and Menorca, theIbiza wall lizardnative to the Pityusics, and theMajorcan midwife toad, today only found in the mountains of Mallorca.An extinct dwarf subspecies ofLataste's viper,Vipera latastei ebusitana, was also native to the Pityusics until it became extinct after human settlement.TheBalearic warbleris an endemic bird species found on the islands excluding Menorca. Seabirds nesting on the islands include theBalearic shearwater,European storm petrel,Scopoli's shearwater,European shag,Audouin's gulland theyellow-legged gull.
Thegross domestic product(GDP) of the autonomous community was 32.5 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 2.7% of Spanish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 29,700 euros or 98% of the EU27 average in the same year.
There are approximately 150 ferries between Mallorca and other destinations every week,most of them to mainland Spain.
The islands' most prominentfootballclub isRCD MallorcafromPalma. Founded in 1916, it is the oldest club in the islands and its team currently (2023–24) plays in the top-tierLa Liga. RCD Mallorca won the2003 Copa del Rey, their sole major honour.They were runners-up in the1999 European Cup Winners' Cup.They contest the long-standingPalma derbywith the other established team on the islands,CD Atlético Baleares.
The islands also have several professional football clubs, includingUD Ibiza, aphoenix clubofUD Ibiza-Eivissa, itself a phoenix ofSD Ibiza,CE Constànciafrom Inca, who despite playing inTercera Federación, used to play inSegunda Divisiónin the early 1940s and the first half of the 1960s, with their best ever placing being third in two consecutive seasons:1942-43 Segunda Divisiónand1943-44 Segunda División, and the now defunctCF Sporting Mahonés, the only club in Menorca to have reachedSegunda División B.
There is also theBalearic Islands autonomous football team, and anunofficial Menorcan national teamwho play in theInternational Island Games. Local clubs play in theregional divisionsmanaged by theBalearic Islands Football Federation.
In basketball, the islands haven't had much success. Despite thatMenorca Bàsquetbecame the only Menorcan & Balearic basketball team to be onLiga ACB, having been 5 seasons in total before disbanding in 2012.
Now there are 2 clubs from the Balearic Islands that have been in the second divisionLEB Oroin the last 5 years,CB Bahía San Agustínfrom Palma de Mallorca, relegated from LEB Oro at the2021-22 LEB Oro season, and Menorca Bàsquet's phoenix club,CB Menorca, who in the2023-24 LEB Oro seasonmade their debut, finishing 12th in the league table and failing to get into promotion play-off spots.
Several basketball players have come from the Balearic Islands, includingRudy Fernández,Sergio Llull,Joan SastreandSergi García, with Llull and Fernández being the two most successful ones, having won theEurobasketand theFIBA Basketball World Cup..
Tennis playerRafael Nadal, winner of 22Grand Slamsingle titles, and former world no. 1 tennis playerCarlos Moyáare both from Majorca. Rafael Nadal's uncle,Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a former Spanish international footballer. Other famous sportsmen include basketball playerRudy Fernándezand motorcycle road racersJorge Lorenzo, who won the2010,2012and2015MotoGPWorld Championships, andJoan Mir, who won the2020MotoGP World Championship.
Ibiza is one of the world's top yachting hubs attracting a wide assortment of charter yachts.