History History

In the Balearic Islands, megalithic remains from the prehistoric era attest to the very ancient presence of man. In Menorca (Naveta des Tudons), Mallorca (Talaiot de Capocorb, Llucmajor) or Formentera (Ca Na Costa), prehistoric man has left traces of his stay. But it is difficult to know when a human foot first trod the Balearic beaches. Historians estimate that man appeared there 4,000 years before our era. He found abundant game on this archipelago, including a species of antelope now extinct, the Myotragus. He was therefore first a hunter, then, logically enough, a breeder and farmer. This civilization found refuge in caves where archaeologists have found the first pottery and metal objects (between 3000 and 2000 BC). This is referred to as a pre-Talayotic culture.

At that time, commercial exchanges with the Mediterranean basin began: Greeks, Iberians and Phoenicians stopped off in the Balearic Islands to offer their goods. This opening up to the rest of the world at the time led to the first buildings on the archipelago.

The stories of passing sailors fed the local imagination. The descriptions of the first structured cities (Athens and Carthage in particular) influenced the islanders, so much so that villages were formed as the caves were emptied. In the heart of these modest agglomerations, towers of stone and wood assembled without mortar were erected: these were the talayots. Until now, the tribes were not very organized and were visibly peaceful, but they built the first fortifications. However, no talayot remains have been discovered on the Pityuses (Ibiza and Formentera). Minorca, on the other hand, is full of them.

According to Diodorus of Sicily, the city of Ibiza was founded in 654 or 653 BC by the Carthaginians. But contemporary historians, who are much more reliable, believe that it was the Phoenicians who first settled there, around the 10th century BC. A population, which has not yet revealed all its secrets, was already settled on the island, as shown by the paintings in the Cova de ses Fontanelles, near Sant Antoni (at least 800 BC).

The Carthaginians took control of the Balearic Islands in 645 B.C. They destroyed the towers, built their own towns and fortifications and, above all, exploited the archipelago's riches: the salt marshes and the murex (a carnivorous mollusc from which purple was extracted, a much sought-after colouring agent in ancient times). The invaders also took advantage of the remarkable handling of the slingshot by the young Balearic warriors. They enlisted them in their campaigns as mercenaries in the Punic wars that opposed them to Rome from 264 to 146 BC. The name Ibiza is an adaptation of Ibosim, which meant "the island of Bes" for the Carthaginians, named after a god worshipped in Egypt.

It took only a few years for the Romans to understand Carthage's interest in the Balearic Islands. In 123 BC, the consul Caecilius Metellus incorporated the archipelago into the Roman Empire. He created Palma and laid out traffic routes to Majorca and Minorca. Under the name of Ebusus, Ibiza was not subdued by arms, but it was given the status of a confederate and autonomous city, as evidenced by the coins of the time: on one side, the inscription Insul Augusta or "The island that governs itself", and on the other, the effigy of the god Bes, which would indicate that the Romans did not succeed or did not seek to eradicate the beliefs of the people of Ibiza at the time. Romanisation, although it was slow, allowed Ibiza to maintain its traditional commercial activities: the exploitation of salt, which has always been the island's wealth, fishing and agriculture.

The Roman Empire did not leave deep traces of its domination. It must be said that 300 years after its establishment, the empire was a shadow of its former self. Its fall, around 400 AD, plunged the Balearic Islands into a period of retreat.

Ibiza and the whole archipelago was devastated by the Vandals, and an early Christian civilization survived as best it could during this period.

After the conquest of the general Belisarius, under the reign of Justinian, emperor of Byzantium, Ibiza and the Balearic Islands were integrated into the Eastern Empire in 553. In the 7th century, the Visigoths drove out the Byzantines, but it was the Moors who quickly became the masters of the area.

The Arabs made their first incursions as early as the 7th century, although this was not a real invasion. Despite some looting, they sought above all to trade, thus taking advantage of the privileged position of the islands on the major maritime routes. Charlemagne tried to re-establish a lasting Christian domination of Majorca, but his efforts were reduced to nothing in 902, when the Caliph of Cordoba, Issam al-Jawlani, effortlessly seized the archipelago. The Moors renamed the island Yebisah. Five centuries of occupation had a strong influence on the island's agricultural techniques, architecture, customs and toponymy. This was a period of development for Ibiza and for the archipelago as a whole.

Driven by a true sense of divine mission and taking advantage of the dissensions between the different Arab suzerains of Spain and the Balearic Islands, James I of Aragon used the pretext of permanent attacks by Arab pirates against commercial ships to try to drive the Muslims out of the Balearic Islands. In September 1229, he sent a powerful fleet. On 9 September, the young king (21 years old) emerged victorious from the main confrontation between the two armies. However, the Moors took refuge in Medina Majorica, the Arab name for Palma. James I had to wait three months. The city finally fell into his hands and this was the beginning of the Kingdom of Majorca, attached to the Crown of Aragon.

After recapturing Menorca in 1231, the troops of James I managed to reconquer Ibiza and Formentera without too much difficulty.

Throughout the 13th century, the new conquerors granted the island a very liberal charter that implied the recognition of certain rights and privileges that were very different from the classic feudal system. Ibiza, due to its position, remained a place of passage. The next four centuries were full of threats and fear: pirate raids from North Africa were very frequent. They brought death and ruined the island.

The two Pityuses islands obtained a semi-autonomous status, dependent at that time only on the Kingdom of Majorca. After a new episode of allegiance to the Crown of Aragon (from 1286 to 1295), they recovered their semi-autonomous status.

With the Kingdom of Majorca definitively attached to the Crown of Spain, Ibiza becomes Spanish.

While Formentera was deserted, the Ibizan population was reduced to 500 families. The history of Ibiza was linked to that of Spain, but the island kept alive certain rites of the past that escaped the Church (one of these mysterious practices was dancing around the wells).

It was not until the 18th century that the island was officially Christianized and most of the churches were finally built. Some of them were fortified and used as a refuge against pirate attacks. Many watchtowers and protection towers were built at the same time. The names of the villages are still today those of the parishes: Sant Antoni, Santa Eulària, Sant Josep, for the largest urban centres, without forgetting the charming villages of Sant Joan, Sant Carles, Sant Jordi, Santa Gertrudis, Sant Mateu... and Jesús!

The 19th century was marked by agricultural, industrial and urban development. Mallorca, which suffered from drought and famine, was equipped with a railway, while almond and vine crops were introduced to Ibiza.

For the first time, a regular line between the peninsula and the archipelago was put into service. At the same time, it was a time when poverty drove many islanders to emigrate. Important works in the port of Ibiza at the end of the century would also promote the development of maritime communications.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Mallorca had an embryonic industry. During the Civil War, between 1936 and 1939, the military present in Mallorca and Ibiza rallied almost immediately to General Franco, only Menorca remained loyal to the Republicans until the Second World War.

After years of semi-autarchy, the Spanish government accelerates the opening process and the first tourists arrive. Ibiza becomes the Mecca of the hippies. Enchanted and amazed, these pioneers are followed by millions of visitors. The 1970's were marked by a veritable wave of tourists from Northern Europe - especially Germany - who took possession of the coastline and the picturesque villages. This tourist invasion transformed the island and affected the population, a large part of which, against all odds, retained the customs and way of life of a not so distant past.

The 1970s were marked by the arrival of the jet set on Ibiza. This was the beginning of the great extravagant parties that would soon make Ibiza's reputation.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the islands experienced a real revolution with the accession to autonomy and the creation of an autonomous government of the Balearic Islands on 25 February 1983. A Balearic parliament was created. Since then, the Balearic voters have been called to the polls regularly to elect their deputies. The Parliament of the Balearic Islands is made up of 33 deputies from Mallorca, 13 from Menorca, 12 from Ibiza and 1 from Formentera. A government was formed, headed by a president: Gabriel Canella Fons.

Gabriel Cañellas i Fons was the first president of the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands until 1995. After being re-elected several times to this position (1987, 1991 and 1995), he was forced to resign. The year 1995 was a black date in the history of the Balearic Islands, with the discovery of a huge corruption scandal (the Calvià and Sòller affairs) which brought the entire political class into disrepute. On 15 July he resigned and was succeeded by Cristòfol Soler.

Resignation of Cristòfol Soler and appointment of Jaume Matas Palau.

European and municipal elections; elections for the new team of the autonomous government of the Balearic Islands with an anti-People's Party coalition of all the political parties; new president: Francesc Antich, of the Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands, who came out on top in the elections to the Balearic Regional Parliament.

The walls of the city of Ibiza (Dalt Vila) become a Unesco World Heritage Site. In May, a so-called medieval festival is held within the walls of the old town of Ibiza to celebrate this event.

During the first two decades of the millennium, an impressive number of German, English, Spanish, Italian and French tourists disembarked from boats and planes. This mass influx led to the construction of hundreds of hotels, often on the seafront, which of course partly disfigured the island. So much so that the government of Ibiza decided to gradually encourage rural tourism and the discovery of the northern part of the island, which remained wild.

In the regional elections, the Popular Party, governed by Jaume Matas Palau, retained the preference of the inhabitants of the archipelago by winning the majority of seats in the Assembly.

In the parliamentary elections, Jaume Matas Palau stood for re-election and, although the Popular Party (PP) remained by far the largest party in terms of votes with 46%, it lost its absolute majority. His opponent, the Socialist Francesc Antich i Oliver, won the presidency by forming an alliance with the regionalist parties and formed a centre-left government.

Like the rest of Spain, the Balearic Islands have been hit by the financial crisis and the collapse of the construction sector.

The "Palma Arena" scandal forced Francesc Antich i Oliver to separate from Unió Mallorquina, some of whose leaders were implicated in the corruption affair, to govern alone without a majority.

The right-wing has returned to power in the elections of 18 June, with an overwhelming majority. José Ramón Bauzà Díaz (PP) was the new president of the Balearic Islands government and had to face the problem of unemployment. In the same year, Iñaki Urdangarin - son-in-law of the King of Spain - was investigated as part of the Babel affair, a spin-off of the Palma Arena affair. He was indicted in 2012 for misappropriation of public funds.

At the same time, the crisis is intensifying throughout Spain and particularly in the Balearic Islands, where the unemployment rate reaches 28.5% in spring 2013. The arrival of summer marks a short period of respite, and unemployment drops to 22.5% thanks to seasonal jobs. Unfortunately, this is a far cry from the figures of the early 2000s, when the Balearic Islands enjoyed full employment during the tourist season. In the autumn, a deep social malaise was added to the problem of the crisis: the reform of the education system, implemented by the government of José Ramón Bauzá, threatened the use of Catalan in the Balearic schools in favour of English.

In September 2014, the Supreme Court of the Balearic Islands annulled this reform of the education system, deeming it invalid, due to the fact that the University of the Balearic Islands, the competent body, had not been consulted in this decision making. As a result, the Minister of Education, Juana Maria Camps, was removed from her post and replaced by the government spokesperson, Nuria Riera. These events led to numerous anti-Bauzá demonstrations demanding his resignation.

In the elections, power changed hands once again to the socialists. Francina Armengol became the new president of the government.

The Balearic government is introducing a tourist tax on accommodation in order to finance the development of tourist infrastructures and the preservation of the archipelago's natural areas. Tourism, a real economic engine, has experienced an unprecedented boom since the beginning of the new millennium, representing more than 45% of the Balearic Islands' GDP. But at the same time, inequalities remain, with almost 20% of the Balearic population still living below the poverty line. The importance of tourism in the local economy also leads to a strong dependence on seasonal activity. Although mass tourism fills the state coffers and boosts the national economy, it would be wrong to underestimate its serious consequences for the environment and quality of life.

The Balearic Parliament votes for a law banning bullfighting.

Pedro Sánchez, a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), becomes the president of the Spanish government. He succeeds Mariano Rajoy, who resigned following the adoption of a motion of censure.

The Balearic government passes a law setting the_CO2 emission target at zero by 2050.

The covid-19 pandemic is not sparing the Balearic Islands, causing, as a side effect, a sharp drop in tourism to the islands in the summer of 2020. If the pill is not easy to swallow for anyone, it creates a powerful shock wave in Ibiza, which derives almost 90% of its GDP from tourism.

After more than a year of demanding health restrictions, an improvement is being felt on the island. Despite the closure of nightlife venues and clubs, Ibiza's establishments are making even more revenue than in 2019.