History of Majorca

Majorca (also known as Mallorca in Spanish) is the largest island in Spain. Majorca is a part of the Balearic Islands archipelago (known as Illes Balears in Catalan and Islas Baleares in Spanish), which is located in the Mediterranean Sea and are part of Spain. Like the other Balearic Islands Ibiza, the island is a popular tourist destination.

History:
Mallorca or Majorca has been populated since ancient times. Burial chambers and habitation traces from the Paleolithic period (around 6000-4000 BC), have been revealed. Majorca was taken by the Carthaginians before passing to the Romans in 123 BC under Quintus Caecilius Metellus. It prospered under the Roman rule, when the towns of Pollentia and Palmaria were founded. The economy was supported by Olive cultivation, viniculture, and salt mining.
The Hooligans ruined the island in 426, and captured it to their kingdom in 465. In 534, Majorca was occupied by the Byzantine Empire, and controlled as part of the territory of Sardinia. Under Byzantine rule, Christianity flourished and several churches were built. But from 707, the island was frequently aggressed by Muslim raiders from North Africa.
In 902 A.D., the Caliphate of Cordoba occupied Majorca, leading in a new period of prosperity for the island. With the Caliphate at its pinnacle, the Moors enhanced agriculture with irrigation, built up local industries and the island profited from the overall prosperous times. After the Caliphate dissected and a new, more decadent, era started, in 1015 A.D., Majorca came under the rule of the Taifa of Denia, and from 1087-1114 A.D. was a sovereign Taifa. Though, in 1114, a Pisa-Catalans group overran the island, laying cordon to Palma for 8 months. After the city fell, the invaders recoiled, and were reinstated by the Almoravides from North Africa, who ruled till 1203 A.D. The Almoravides were swapped by the Almohad dynasty till 1229 A.D., and in the pledging confusion and disturbances, King James I of Aragon started an aggression with 15,000 men and 1,500 horses, annexing Majorca to his Crown of Aragon after a 3 month battle.
After the death of James I in 1276 A.D., his kingdom was divided between his sons. James II became new king of the Kingdom of Majorca. In 1344, King Peter IV of Aragon attacked, and re-incorporated the island into the Crown.
From 1479 A.D., the Crown of Aragon was in dynastic merger with that of Castile. In the early 18th century, the War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the surrogate of that dynastic union with a united Spanish dominion. In 1716 the Decretos de Nueva Planta made Majorca part of the Spanish territory of Baleares, nearly corresponding to present-day Illes Balears region and autonomous community.
Since the 1950s, the arrival of mass tourism drastically changed the physiognomy of both the city and island, changing it into an attraction centre for visitors and attracting workers from mainland Spain.
The rise in tourism caused Palma to grow considerably, with ramifications on colonization. In 1960 Majorca received 500,000 visitors; in 1997 it received more than 6,739,700. In 2001 more than 19.2 million people passed through Son Sant Joan Airport in Palma, with an additional 1,500,000 coming by sea.
At Present:
In the 21st century, urban redevelopment, by the so-called Pla Mirall (\"Mirror Plan\" in English), attracted imperative groups of immigrant workers from exterior of European Union, especially from Africa and South America.