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of the biggest contributors to Catalonia’s reputation is the
Baleares Archipelago. Composing three mountainous islands; Majorca,
Cabrera and Ibiza, and two flat islands; Menorca and Formentera.
The biggest island, Majorca, does not exceed 90km in length.
The Beleares Islands are populated by less than a million residents
and their total size is 5014km2. It is a culturally and economically
rich area in contrast to the stereotypes of sun and festivity
so often attributed to the islands. The climate is temperate,
dry in summer and sometimes torrential in autumn. The winds
are the same as those on continental Catalonia; Tramontane,
Llebeig and Xaloc.
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of Pla de Mallorca
(Majorca) |
The
strategic position of the Baleares Islands in the Mediterranean
meant there were many different rulers and a strong diversity
of the population until the dominance of the Mediterranean Catalan.
Beginning with an invasion by Muslims in the year 902 AD, then
transformed into a strongly commercial agricultural zone, these
islands joined the Catalan sphere at the beginning of 1229 after
King Jaume I conquered the area. He then went on to establish
the Kingdom of Majorca which lasted from 1276 to 1349. Then
the inclusion of the territories into the Kingdom of Catalonia-Aragon
confirmed the Catalan power in the Mediterranean, followed by
a very prosperous and innovative period. In 1375 the Jewish
Catalan cartographer Cresques Abraham, a son of Majorca, created
the first atlas of the world, L’Atles Català. Activity
and demographic growth attracted an English domination before
the loss of the islanders’ liberties manifested by the Decret
de Nova Planta of 1715 when the Baleares Islands became a Spanish
possession. In 1840 the international discovery of the Majorcan
landscape began decisively and the leisure movement began, accelerated
by the 1960s. Departing from the major cities of the world,
the airport of Palma de Majorca is an obvious destination, however,
mass tourism on the islands often misses the blooming political
and cultural identity. The University of the Baleares Islands
was founded in 1978 and the Statute of Autonomy for the Baleares
Islands obtained in 1983 gave the Parliament of the Baleares
Islands administrative rights.
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