Mallorca, Spain
Mallorca is the largest island of Spain. It is located in the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Balearic Islands archipelago. The name derives from Latin insula maior, "larger island"; later Maiorica. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands.
The Cabrera archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca (in the municipality of Palma). The anthem of Majorca is La Balanguera. Like the other Balearic Islands of Ibiza, Formentera, and Minorca, the island is a popular tourist destination. In Germany and the United Kingdom, where package tourism to the island started in May 1952, Majorca has remained a popular destination.
The climate is Mediterranean, with markedly higher precipitation in the Serra de Tramuntana. Summers are hot in the plains and winters mild to cool, getting colder in the Tramuntana range; in this part of the island brief episodes of snow during the winter are not unusual. The island is surrounded by two uninhabited small islands: Cabrera (southeast of Palma) and Dragonera (west of Palma).
Famous Majorcans include writer and philosopher Ramon Llull and Junípero Serra, the Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California. From the 19th century, the military commander, Joaquín Jovellar y Soler, and two time Spanish Prime Minister, Antonio Maura. More recently, sportsmen from the island include basketball player Rudy Fernández, as well as former world no. 1 tennis player Rafael Nadal and former world no. 1 tennis player Carlos Moyá. Rafael Nadal's uncle is the former Spanish international footballer, Miguel Ángel Nadal. In 2006, Majorca's Jorge Lorenzo won the world 250cc motor cycling title. Former Everton F.C. footballer, Duncan Ferguson now resides in Majorca.
This island is also home to internationally known contemporary painters such as Miquel Barceló, José María Sicilia, and Astrid Colomar. Maria del Mar Bonet and her brother Joan Ramon Bonet, both members of the group of Catalan language singers known as Els Setze Jutges in the 1960s, are from Majorca, as is the contemporary pop group Antònia Font.
|
