Menorca, a Spanish island that forms part of the Balearic island province, is the Eastern most and second largest in terms of surface area; 701.84 km2 and 68,027 h. Capital, Mahón. Language, Catalan.

Tourism opened up in Menorca after it did on other islands, and its economy relied most only making shoes and agriculture. This fact had kept its beaches and landscape very well preserved. Cattle farming, industry and handmade products are today the second-biggest economic drivers. The island has numerous megalithic monuments, underground passages, hypostyle halls, caves, etc...

Menorca was declared a BIOSPERE RESERVE in 1993, due to the balance between its economic development, resource consumption and the conservation of its natural resources and landscape.

Menorca is an intensely humanized territory, with an extremely rich tradition of rural landscapes. It is home to a remarkable diversity of Mediterranean habitats, where there are plant and animal species exclusive to the Island, some of which are in danger of extinction...

During the Spanish Civil War, Menorca remained loyal to the Republican side, until the Battle of Menorca in February 1939, when it had to surrender the island.

The Republican army had set up a defense all along the cost with artillery that was considered modern for the times; Vickers canons form England. At the end of the war, the British navy supervised the transfer of power in Menorca and evacuated some political refugees...

In 1802, Menorca was handed over definitively to Spain through the Treaty of Amiens. The Port Mahon maritime dispute dragged for a few more years.

During the seven-year war, Menorca was taken over by France (1756). However, according to the Treaty of Paris (1763) Great Britain was given control of the island. French-Spanish forces defeated the British and recovered the island in 1782, only to be invaded once again by the British in 1798...

Invaded by the British in 1708 during the Spanish War of Succession and was officially recognized to be under British rule according to the Utrecht Treaty -1713-.

More than seventy years under British rule. Particularly under the mandate of Governor Kane, the island’s economy thrived and the Port Mahon became a first rate trading port in the Mediterranean, replacing Ciudadela as the capital...

Menorca benefited from the maritime and commercial glory of the kingdom of Aragon but, at the end of the 14th century, a period of depopulation and economic decadence began.

This process reached alarming levels in the 15th and 16th centuries, mainly due to fighting between the peasantry and the aristocracy. Attacks from the Ottomans also played a role, as they destroyed Port Mahon in 1535 and the Ciudadela in 1558, which threatened to depopulate the island...

Alfonso III of Aragon wrested control of Menorca from the Moors on 17 January 1287, the day on which the Fiesta of San Antonio Abad and also the Day of the People of Menorca (Diada del Poble de Menorca) is celebrated.

His successor James II the Just handed the island over to James II of Majorca after the Treaty of Anagni -1295-, making it part of the Kingdom of Mallorca. In 1343, Peter the Ceremonious deposed James III of Majorca and made himself King of Majorca...