Historians believe that the Greeks and Romans arrived on the island in the 1st century AD, but it wasn’t until the 10th century that the arrival of the Moors saw the development of significant communities here. There followed three centuries of upheaval and struggle with constant fighting between the Muslims and Christian invaders.

This period of Moorish control was entirely wiped out with the arrival of King Jaume I of Aragon and Catalunya in the 13th century. Jaume destroyed everything that had been established by the Moors with a hard three month invasion by 15,000 men and subsequently the independent Kingdom of Majorca (Mallorca) was created.

War wasn’t the only disturbance to people’s lives on the island; serious famines and droughts also had a significant effect on the island’s communities. It was only with development of the railways and agricultural infrastructure that began to create more stability in people’s lives and there followed a revival of Catalan culture.

The advent of mass tourism from the 1950s onwards saw radical change on the island as Majorca (Mallorca) embraced the tourist market, attracting visitors from around Europe and the world as well as workers from the Spanish mainland.

A large number of residents here are expatriates, traditionally from the United Kingdom and other European countries, but more recently the island has attracted immigrant workers from Africa and South America.