Editing Palma de Mallorca (section)

== History ==
{{see also|Timeline of Palma de Mallorca}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=June 2018}}
Palma was founded as a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] camp upon the remains of a [[Talaiot]]ic settlement. The city was subjected to several [[Vandal]] raids during the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], then reconquered by the [[Byzantine Empire]], then colonised by the [[Moors]] (who called it '''''Medina Mayurqa''''') and, in the 13th century, by [[James I of Aragon]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hackel |first=Steven W. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Junipero_Serra/5csMGaP36FQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Palma+de+Mallorca+Medina+Mayurqa&pg=PA4&printsec=frontcover |title=Junipero Serra: California's Founding Father |date=2013-09-03 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-71109-2}}</ref>

=== Roman period ===
After the conquest of Mallorca, the city was loosely incorporated into the province of [[Hispania Tarraconensis|Tarraconensis]] by 123 BC; the Romans founded two new cities: ''Palma'' on the south of the island, and ''[[Pollentia (Mallorca)|Pollentia]]'' in the northeast – on the site of a [[Phoenicia]]n settlement. Whilst Pollentia acted as a port to Roman cities on the northwestern [[Mediterranean|Mediterranean Sea]], Palma was the port used for destinations in Africa, such as [[Carthage]], and [[Hispania]], such as [[Saguntum]], [[Cádiz|Gades]] and [[Carthago Nova]]. Though present-day Palma has no significant remains from this period, occasional archaeological finds are made in city centre excavations.  For example, the remains of the Roman Wall can be seen at Can Bordils, the Municipal Archive, and below it, at the Maimó ben Faraig Center.<ref>{{cite web |title=Municipal Archive of Palma |url=https://www.palma.cat/portal/PALMA/contenedor1.jsp?seccion=s_floc_d4_v1.jsp&contenido=1057&tipo=1&nivel=1400&language=es |website=Municipality of Palma |access-date=29 March 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190329045826/https://www.palma.cat/portal/PALMA/contenedor1.jsp?seccion=s_floc_d4_v1.jsp&contenido=1057&tipo=1&nivel=1400&language=es |archive-date=29 March 2019 |language=ES |quote=Restos de la muralla romana se muestran descubiertos en la fachada lateral de Can Bordils |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Byzantine period ===
Though the period between the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]] and the [[Islamic conquest of Spain|Muslim conquest]] is not well understood (due to lack of documents), there is clear evidence of a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] presence in the city, as indicated by mosaics found in the oldest parts of the cathedral, which was in early medieval times part of a paleo-Christian temple.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

=== Muslim period ===
Between 902 and 1229, the city was under [[Islamic]] control. It remained the capital of the island and it was known as '''''Medina Mayurqa''''', which in Arabic means "City of Majorca".

==== Under the Emirate of Córdoba ====
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The arrival of the [[Moors]] in the Balearic Islands occurred at the beginning of the 8th century. During this period, the population developed an economy based on self-sufficiency and [[piracy]] and even showed evidence of a relative hierarchy. The dominant groups took advantage of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] withdrawal due to Islamic expansion across the Mediterranean, to reinforce their domination upon the rest of the population, thus ensuring their power and the gradual abandonment of Imperial [[political structure]]s.

In 708, a Muslim fleet, under the command of Abd Allah ibn Musa, son of the governor of [[Ifriqiya]], [[Musa ibn Nusayr]], stopped off at the island. It appears that Abd Allah convinced the powers of the city to accept a peace treaty. This treaty was granted in exchange for a tax, respect for the social, economic, and political structures of the communities that subscribed to it, as well as the continuity of their religious beliefs.

After 707, the city was inhabited by Christians who were nominally in allegiance to the sovereignty of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], yet who, ''de facto'', enjoyed absolute autonomy. The city, being in Mallorca, constituted an enclave between western Christian and Islamic territories, and this attracted and encouraged increased levels of piracy in the surrounding waters. For wide sectors of the city's population, the sacking of ships (whether Muslim or Christian) which passed through Balearic waters was a source of riches over the next fifteen decades. Eventually, continued piracy in the region led to a retaliation by [[Al-Andalus]] which launched a naval fleet against the city and the whole of the Islands. The Islands were defended by the emperor [[Charlemagne]] in 799 from a Muslim pirate incursion.

In 848 (maybe 849), four years after the first [[Viking]] incursions had sacked the whole island, an attack from [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] forced the authorities to ratify the treaty to which the city had submitted in 707. As the city still occupied an eccentric position regarding the commerce network established by the Moors in the western Mediterranean, the enclave was not immediately incorporated into Al-Andalus.

While the [[Emirate of Córdoba]] reinforced its influence upon the Mediterranean, Al-Andalus increased its interest in the city. The consequence of this was the substitution of the submission treaty for the effective incorporation of the [[Balearic Islands|islands]] to the Islamic state. A squad under the command of [[Isam al-Jawlani]] took advantage of the instability caused by several Viking incursions and disembarked in Mallorca, and after destroying any resistance, incorporated Mallorca, with Palma as its capital, to the Córdoban state.

The incorporation of the city into the Emirate set the basis for a new society. Commerce and manufacturing developed in a previously unknown manner. This caused considerable demographic growth, thereby establishing Medina Mayurqa as one of the major ports for trading goods in and out of the Emirate of Córdoba.

==== Dénia—Balearic taifa (1015–1087) ====
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[[File:0053-Palma de Mallorca.JPG|thumb|upright|Sant Nicolau Church]]

The [[Umayyad]] regime, despite its administrative centralisation, mercenary army and struggle to gain wider social support, could neither harmonise the various ethnic groups inside al-Andalus nor dissolve the old tribes which still organised sporadic ethnic fighting. During the 11th century, the Caliphate's control waned considerably. Provinces broke free from the central Cordoban administration and became effectively sovereign states — ''[[taifa]]s'' — under the same governors that had been named by the last Umayyad Caliphs. According to their origin, these "taifas" can be grouped under three broad categories: people of [[Arabs|Arab]], [[Berbers|Berber]] or [[Saqaliba|Slavic]] origin.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Strangers_in_the_Land_Traveling_Texts_Im/wZ4LEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=taifas+Arab+Berber+or+Slavic+origin&pg=PA131&printsec=frontcover |title=Strangers in the Land: Traveling Texts, Imagined Others, and Captured Souls in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Traditions in Late Antique and Mediaeval Times |date=2024-06-03 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-69331-9}}</ref>

Palma was part of the [[taifa of Dénia]]. The founder of this state was a client of the [[Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir|Al-Mansur]] family, [[Muyahid ibn Yusuf ibn Ali]], who could profit from the progressive crumbling of the Caliphate's superstructure to gain control over the province of [[Dénia]]. Subsequently, Muyahid organised a campaign throughout the [[Balearic Islands]] to consolidate the district and incorporated it into their "taifa" in early 1015.

During the following years, Palma became the main port from where attacks on Christian vessels and coasts could be launched. Palma was the base from where a campaign against [[Sardinia]] was launched between 1016 and 1017, which caused the [[republic of Pisa|Pisans]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] forces to intervene. Later, this intervention set the basis for Italian [[mercantile]] penetration of the city.

The Denian dominion lasted until 1087, a period during which the city and the rest of the islands were relatively peaceful. Their supremacy at sea was still not rivaled by the [[Italian maritime republics|Italian merchant republics]], thus there were few external threats.

==== Balearic Taifa (1087–1115) and Western Mediterranean ====
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The [[Banu Hud]] conquest of Dénia and its incorporation to the Eastern District of the [[taifa of Zaragoza]] meant the destruction of the legacy of Muyahid. The islands were freed from mainland dominion and briefly enjoyed independence, during which Medina Mayurqa was the capital.

The economy during this period depended on both agriculture and piracy. In the latter 11th century, Christian commercial powers took the initiative at sea against the [[Muslims]]. After centuries of fighting defensively in the face of Islamic pressure, Italians, [[Catalan people|Catalans]] and [[Occitans]] took offensive action. Consequently, the benefits of piracy diminished causing severe economic stress to the city.

The clearest proof of the new ruling relation of forces, from 1090, is the [[Crusade]] organised by the most important mercantile cities of the Christian states against the Islands. This effort was destined to finally eradicate Muslim piracy mainly based in Palma and surrounding havens. In 1115, Palma was sacked and later abandoned by an expedition commanded by [[Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona|Ramon Berenguer III the Great]], [[count of Barcelona]] and [[Count of Provence|Provence]], which was composed of Catalans, Pisans, and other Italians, and soldiers from Provence, [[Corsica]], and Sardinia, in a struggle to end [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] control.

After this, the Islands became part of the [[Almoravid dynasty]]. The inglobement{{typo help inline|reason=similar to englobement|date=November 2019}} of all the taifa to a larger state helped to re-establish a balance along the frontier that separated western Christian states from the Muslim world.

==== Period of the Banu Ganiya (1157–1203) ====
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[[File:Santa Eulàlia de Palma.JPG|thumb|upright|Santa Eulalia church, in which [[James II of Majorca]] was crowned on 12 September 1276. The church have been used by the families of Jewish converts ([[Xueta]]s).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-49374489|title=The New Yorker reviving Jewish life on a holiday island|date =18 August 2019|publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Appetites and Identities: An Introduction to the Social Anthropology of Western Europe|first=Sara|last=Delamont|year=2002|isbn=9781134924745|page=114|publisher=Taylor & Francis|quote=The Xueta had their own church—St Eulalia's—in their barrio, with a Xueta priest, and their own cofraternity (the Cross of Calvary) to march in the Holy Week procession.}}</ref> ]]

The situation changed in the mid-12th century when the Almoravids were displaced from al-Andalus and western [[Maghreb]] by the [[Almohad]]. Almoravid dominions, from 1157 on, were restricted to the [[Balearic Islands]], with Palma again acting as the capital, governed by [[Muhammad ibn Ganiya]]. The massive arrival of al-Andalus refugees contributed to reinforcing the positions of the last Almoravid legitimatists, the Banu Ganiya, who, conscious of their weakness in the Western Mediterranean context, started to get closer to the growing powers represented by [[Italian maritime republics]]. [[history of Genoa|Genoa]] and [[history of Pisa|Pisans]] obtained in this period their first commercial concessions in the city and the rest of the islands.

The Banu Ganiya, taking advantage of the great loss suffered by [[Abu Yuqub Yusuf]] in the [[Siege of Santarém (1184)|Siege of Santarém]], attacked [[Ifriqiya]], where the Almohad dominion had not been consolidated yet, in the same year. However, this attack was repelled and the Almohad authorities encouraged anti-Almoravid revolts in the Islands. The city was captured by the Almohads in 1203.

=== Christian reconquest and late Middle Ages ===
[[File:Castillo de Bellver.jpg|thumb|[[Bellver Castle]] was the first circular castle in Europe.]]

On 31 December 1229, after three months of siege, the city was [[Conquest of Majorca|reconquered]] by [[James I of Aragon]] and was renamed Ciutat de Mallorca (Mallorca City). In addition to being kept as the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca, it was given a municipality that comprised the whole island. The governing arm was the University of the City and Kingdom of Majorca.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

After the death of James I of Aragon, Palma became the joint capital of the [[Kingdom of Majorca]], together with [[Perpignan]]. His son, [[James II of Majorca]], championed the construction of statues and monuments in the city: [[Bellver Castle]], the churches of St. Francesc and St. Domingo, reformed the [[Palace of Almudaina]] and began the construction of the [[Palma Cathedral|Cathedral of Majorca]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ring |first=Trudy |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Southern_Europe/fYH7AQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=began+construction+Cathedral+Majorca&pg=PA525&printsec=frontcover |title=Southern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places |last2=Watson |first2=Noelle |last3=Schellinger |first3=Paul |date=2013-11-05 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-25965-6}}</ref>

The city's advantageous geographical location allowed it extensive commerce with [[Catalonia]], [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]], [[Provence]], the [[Maghreb]], the Italian republics, and the dominions of the [[Ottoman Empire]], which heralded a golden age for the city, ending with Aragonese conquest in 1344.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Travel |first=D. K. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/DK_Eyewitness_Travel_Guide_Mallorca_Meno/F8RIDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Palma+%22golden+age%22+for+the+city&pg=PA39&printsec=frontcover |title=DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza |date=2018-04-17 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-4654-7781-1}}</ref>

[[File:Almudaina catedral.jpg|thumb|left|[[Royal Palace of La Almudaina]], built in 1309 over an earlier castle]]

In 1391, anti-Jewish riots broke out. The Jewish community of Inca was completely wiped out, as were those of Sóller, Sineu, and Alcudia. Despite the governor's prohibition on leaving the island, many Jews fled to North Africa. The remaining Jews were forced to convert under the threat of death.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0013_0_13064.html |title=Majorca |website=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref>

[[Abraham Cresques]] was a 14th-century [[Jews|Jewish]] [[Cartography|cartographer]] of the [[Majorcan cartographic school]] from Palma; Cresques is credited with the authorship of the famous [[Catalan Atlas]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bagrow |first=Leo |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Cartography/aFYPEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Cresques+Catalan+Atlas&pg=PA66&printsec=frontcover |title=History of Cartography |date=2017-07-12 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-51559-7}}</ref>

The river that cut through the city gave rise to two distinct areas within the city; the "Upper town" and "Lower town", depending upon which side of the river one was situated.<ref>{{Cite book |last=D'Este |first=Margaret |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/With_a_Camera_in_Majorca/OL9CAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Palma+Mallorca+Lower+town+Upper+town+river&pg=PA8-IA3&printsec=frontcover |title=With a Camera in Majorca |date=1907 |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons}}</ref>

[[File:Llotja palma.jpg|thumb|Palma's Silk Exchange, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture in Mallorca, built in 1420–1452]]

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Rebellion of the Brotherhoods (a peasant uprising against [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]'s administration) and the frequent attack of [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] and [[Berber people|Berber]] pirates caused a reduction of commercial activities and a huge investment in defensive structures. As a consequence, the city entered a period of decadence that would last till the end of the 17th century. [[Catalina Tomas]], a [[canoness]] and [[Mysticism|mystic]] who became later one of the [[Patron saint|patron saints]] of Mallorca, lived in the [[convent]] of St [[Mary Magdalene]] of Palma between 1550 and 1572.<ref name="RealAcademia">{{cite web |last1=Yuste |first1=Belén |last2=Rivas-Caballero |first2=Sonnia L. |title=Santa Catalina Tomás |url=https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/85613/santa-catalina-tomas |publisher=Real Academia de la Historia |access-date=3 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="Canonesas">{{cite web |title=Santa Catalina Tomás |url=http://www.canonesaspalma.org/catalina.php |website=Canónica de Santa Mª Magdalena |publisher=Canonesas de Santa Mª Magdalena |access-date=3 November 2023}}</ref>

=== 17th to 19th centuries ===
[[File:Mallorca Palma seaport asv2023-04 img2.jpg|thumb|upright=.5|left|The tower of [[Porto Pí Lighthouse|Porto Pí]]]]

The 17th century was characterised by the division of the city into two sides or gangs, named ''Canamunts'' and ''Canavalls'' (from Majorcan Catalan "the ones from the upper/lower side"), with severe social and economic repercussions. During this period, the port became a haven for pirates. During the last quarter of the century, the [[Inquisition]] continued its persecution of the city's Jews, locally called ''[[xuetes]]''. [[Xuetes]] practiced strict [[endogamy]] by marrying only within their own group. Many of their descendants observe a [[Syncretism|syncretist]] form of Christian worship known as [[Xueta Christianity]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Those of the Street - The Catholic-Jews of Mallorca: a Study in Urban Cultural Change |first=Kenneth |last=Moore |year=1976 |isbn=9780674037830 |page=46|publisher=Michigan University Press}}</ref>

The fall of Barcelona in 1714 meant the end of the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] and the defeat and destruction of the [[Crown of Aragon]], and this was reflected in the [[Nueva Planta decrees]], issued by [[Philip V of Spain]] in 1715.{{cn|date=November 2024}} These occupation decrees changed the government of the island and separated it from the municipality's government of Palma, which became the official city name.{{cn|date=November 2024}} By the end of the 19th century, the name ''Palma de Mallorca'' was generalised in written Spanish, although it is still colloquially named ''Ciutat'' ("city") in Catalan. In the 18th century, [[Charles III of Spain]] removed interdiction of commerce with [[Spanish Empire|Spanish colonies in America]] and the port and commercial activity of the city grew once again.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

[[File:Colisseu balear coliseo balear.jpg|thumb|right|Colisseu Balear built in 1928]]

At the beginning of the 19th century, Palma became a refuge for many who had exiled themselves from the [[Napoleonic occupation of Catalonia]] and [[Valencian Community|Valencia]]; during this period freedom flourished, until the absolutist restoration.{{cn|date=November 2024}} With the establishment of the contemporary Spanish state administrative organization, Palma became the capital of the new [[Balearic Islands]] province in the [[1833 territorial division of Spain]]. The French occupation of [[Algeria]] in the 19th century ended the fear of Maghrebi attacks in Majorca, which favoured the expansion of new maritime routes, and consequently, the economic growth of the city.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

=== Modern period ===
[[File:Rathaus Palma de Mallorca abends (Zuschnitt).jpg|thumb|City council of Palma]]
[[File:Escultura a Nuredduna.JPG|thumb|Statue of [[Nuredduna (character) | Nuredduna]] in Paseo Marítimo, Palma de Mallorca]]

Since the advent of mass tourism in the 1950s, the city has been transformed into a tourist destination and has attracted many workers from mainland Spain. This has contributed to a huge change in the city's traditions, its language, and its economic power.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McNeely |first=Jeffrey A. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Culture_and_Conservation/-eghREYx1RgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Mallorca++change+traditions+mass+tourism&pg=PA96&printsec=frontcover |title=Culture and Conservation: The Human Dimension in Environmental Planning |last2=Pitt |first2=David C. |date=1985 |publisher=IUCN |isbn=978-0-7099-3533-9}}</ref>

The boom in tourism has caused Palma to grow significantly. In 1960, Mallorca received 500,000 visitors, in 1997 it received more than 6,739,700. In 2001 more than 19,200,000 people passed through ''Son Sant Joan'' airport near Palma, with an additional 1.5 million coming by sea. In 2023, the total number of passengers arriving at ''Son Sant Joan'' airport amounted to 31,105,987.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mallorcaglobalmag.es/en/total-number-passengers-palma-airport-2023/|title=This was the total number of passengers at Palma airport in 2023|website=Mallorca Revista de Información General|access-date=9 December 2024}}</ref>

In the 21st century, urban redevelopment, by the so-called ''Pla Mirall'' (English "Mirror Plan"), had attracted groups of immigrant workers from outside the [[European Union]], especially from Africa and South America.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Tourism provides 80% of the island's GNP.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buswell |first=R. J. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mallorca_and_Tourism/m38TvRYi2HcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Palma+80%25+tourism&pg=PR14&printsec=frontcover |title=Mallorca and Tourism: History, Economy and Environment |date=2011-06-23 |publisher=Channel View Publications |isbn=978-1-84541-213-5 |language=nl}}</ref> Tourism has affected the rapid economic growth of Palma, placing the island of Mallorca among the wealthier regions in Spain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2023/09/03/116641/mallorca-millionaires-one-spain-wealthiest-regions-loads-money.html/|title=The superrich in the Balearics, one of Spain's three wealthiest regions|website=Majorca Daily Bulletin|access-date=9 December 2024}}</ref>

The second economic portal of Palma is agriculture. The main exports of Palma's agriculture are almonds, oranges, lemons, and olives. The island is also gifted with a wide variety of natural resources, such as mines of copper, lead, and marble.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.majorca.com/v/economy/|title=Majorca Economy - Information on Business and Investment in Majorca|website=majorca.com|access-date=14 November 2016}}</ref>

The city also has several surrounding neighborhood communities including [[Establiments]], Nord, Son Espanyol, Ces Cases Noves, and Sa Creu Vermella.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Establiments,+Palma,+Balearic+Islands,+Spain/@39.611051,2.6266783,9z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x1297f2b06ce771ab:0x3f152ff8adcb0172?hl=en-us|title=Google Maps|website=Google Maps|access-date=12 January 2017}}</ref>

In October 2021, Palma was shortlisted for the [[European Commission]]'s 2022 European Capital of Smart Tourism award along with [[Bordeaux]], [[Copenhagen]], [[Dublin]], [[Florence]], [[Ljubljana]] and [[Valencia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2022 European Capital of Smart Tourism - Competition winners 2022|url=https://smart-tourism-capital.ec.europa.eu/cities/competition-winners-2022_en |website=European Commission|date=2 October 2021 |access-date=8 November 2022 }}</ref>