Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands (Illes Balears in Catalan) are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean, between the coast of Valencia and Sardinia, forming an autonomous community of Spain. They are one of Europe's best-known destinations, with over 15 million visitors a year, but each island has a very different character: crowded beaches and quiet coves, wild nightlife and nature walks, big hotels and rustic country fincas.

The islands

• Mallorca, the largest, with the capital Palma, its Gothic cathedral overlooking the sea, the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana, villages such as Valldemossa, Deià and Sóller, the Drach caves and dozens of coves.
• Menorca, quieter and greener, a UNESCO biosphere reserve, with prehistoric Talayotic monuments, the towns of Mahón and Ciutadella and some of the Mediterranean's loveliest coves.
• Ibiza (Eivissa), famous for nightlife and clubs, but also for its fortified upper town, a UNESCO site, its beaches and a countryside of white houses.
• Formentera, the smallest inhabited island, with the white sand and turquoise water of Ses Illetes, protected by posidonia meadows.
• Cabrera, almost uninhabited, is a maritime-terrestrial national park, reached by boat from Mallorca.

Ibiza and Formentera form the Pityusic Islands, the "pine islands", while Mallorca and Menorca are the Balearics proper.

A little history

The islands were inhabited in prehistory by the Talayotic culture, which left stone towers and monuments, and were famous in antiquity for their slingers, who served in Carthaginian and Roman armies; according to one tradition the name itself comes from the Greek ballein, to throw. Ibiza was a Phoenician-Punic colony. After Romans, Vandals, Byzantines and Arabs, in 1229 King James I of Aragon conquered Mallorca, starting Catalan resettlement: that is why the islands' language is Catalan, in its Mallorcan, Menorcan and Ibizan varieties. The fifteenth century was a golden age of trade. Menorca was British for much of the eighteenth century, and traces remain in its architecture and gin. Tourism began in the early twentieth century and became mass tourism from the 1960s (see the history of Ibiza).

Sea and beaches

The Balearics have hundreds of beaches and coves, from the large sandy bays of Alcúdia on Mallorca to Menorca's rocky coves and Formentera's Caribbean-looking beaches. Posidonia seagrass meadows, a UNESCO site around Ibiza and Formentera, keep the water crystal clear (see beaches of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera).

Practical information

The islands have direct flights from across Europe, especially to Palma, Ibiza and Mahón, and ferries from Barcelona, Valencia and Dénia; there are frequent sea links between the islands, especially Ibiza and Formentera. In high season prices are very high and booking ahead is essential; the islands charge a nightly tourist eco-tax. The best time is May to October (see climate). Below you will find a map of our guides and the municipalities.

Destinations on the map

Guides to the community

Municipalities, province by province

• Municipalities of the province of Balearic Islands (42)

All the main municipalities of Spain