Mallorca

Mallorca History

Mallorca, inhabited since the Prehistoric Age, developed an important culture during the Bronze Age. In the year 123 BC Quinto Cecilio Metelo conquered the island for the Romans giving way to later invasions : the Vandals ( 468 ) the Byzantines ( 533 ) the Arabs ( 902 ).

In december 1229 the island was conquered by King James I of Aragon and repopulated by peopel of Catalan origin. With the succession of James II, the independent Kingdom of Mallorca was set up, and this went on to form part of the Crown of Aragon in the mid 14th Centure. After the War of Succession, the Kingdom of Mallorca disappeared, and the island lost all its privileges and exemptions ( 1715 ).

At the beginning of the 20th Centurythe island came under the dominion of Franco's troops ( 1936 ). In the 60s and still under dictatorship, the island began to experience the boom in tourism which has become one of the great driving forces behind its economic development today.

Mallorca in Figures

Population

The island of Mallorca at present has 740,900 inhabitants which accounts for 80% of the Balearic islands. 16% of the population are forigners . The foreign population is not just English and Germans, but alsomany people from South American countries.

Language

The official languages are Castillano and Catalan. The version of Catalan which is spoken is Mallorquien which is difficult for even some Catalan speakers to understand. This traditional version is spoken mostly in the villages.

Hotels in Mallorca

There are over 1000 hotels in Mallorca. These range from very traditional old hotels to modern holiday complexes and parks. The Hotels can be broken down into the following types:

• Modern beach hotels
• Finca hotels
• Superlux hotels
• Agrotourismus hotels

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