It's not clear exactly where they came from or how they got there, but the first settlers on Mallorca were cave dwellers who left behind pottery and tools made from animal horns. The Talayotic period followed around 1000 BC: you can still see Talayots (cone-shaped towers) at Capocorp Vell in the south of the island. Phoenician and Greek traders came next and it's possible that the name Balearic comes from ballein, the Greek for sling throwing. These sling-throwers helped the Carthaginians fight the Romans in the 2nd Punic War, but by 123 BC the Romans had control of Mallorca. True to form they built roads and towns, and introduced the island to Christianity.
At the beginning of the 10th century the island was annexed to the Emirate of Córdoba, kicking off 300 years of Moorish rule. During this time Mallorca had its ups and downs. There were serious squabbles between the Muslims and Christians, but trade prospered from its strategic position between Africa and Islamic Spain, and agricultureimproved.
This prosperity tempted King Jaume I of Aragón and Catalunya, who, annoyed with the Emir of Mallorca for stealing some of his ships, decided to have a crack at the island in 1229. Successful, he created an independent Kingdom of Mallorca, unfortunately destroying many Moorish buildings in the process. On the plus side, he governed progressively, giving rights to the island's Jews, waiving taxation and stimulating trade. He also built Palma cathedral. On his death he left his realm to his two sons: Pedro inherited Catalunya, Aragón and Valencia; Jaume II received Montpellier, Roussillon and the Balearics. The Balearics continued to prosper, and in 1349 a jealous Pedro IV of Aragón landed in Mallorca and claimed it for himself.
Having lost its independence, Mallorca was quickly neglected by a ruling elite more interested in the Aragonese court. The islands were not allowed to trade with the newly discovered Americas, and the economy went into decline. The 16th century saw civil unrest, Jewish executions ordered by the Inquisition and threats from the Ottoman Turks. The 17th century wasn't much better: trade didn't improve and the plague killed thousands of people.
By the 18th century Mallorca's official language, Catalan, had been replaced by Castilian Spanish. This did not deter the waves of Catalan refugees who fled to the island during the Napoleonic wars. Famine, drought and epidemics made 19th-century life hard on the island, however. Communications with mainland Spain, a new railway and agricultural advancements helped and Catalan culture experienced a revival. Nonetheless many islanders left Mallorca for America.
With the advent of mass tourism in the 1950s the island made an impressive comeback. Since then thousands of people have flocked to the beautiful beaches every year (9 million in 1999 alone), and the islanders now enjoy
the highest standard of living in Spain. But this has come at a price: unattractive resort developments have spoiled much of the coast, and more than a fifth of all property on the island is in foreign hands. In 1983 the Balearic Islands became one of Spain's autonomous regions, with Palma de Mallorca its capital. The administration now faces a dilemma: how to continue the prosperity without losing the island's natural beauty to concrete. |
