The present position of the city of Palma is believed to have been originally occupied by a talayotic settlement closely associated with the sea. Later invaded by the Romans and then by the Arabs who named it Madina Mayurqa, the city conserves evidence of those periods in monuments such as the Almudaina Palace and the Arab baths.

13th Century

In 1229 Palma was conquered by King Jaime I, who founded a municipality that encompassed the whole island, hence its name Ciutat de Majorca. As a result of the singular layout of the city, intersected by a river, there were two urban centres "Vila de Dalt" and "Vila d'Avall" situated on either side of the river's banks.

Because of its privileged geographic position, Palma was able to have important dealings with traders from the Maghreb, Italian domains and the Turkish Empire and they helped to make this a golden era for the city. In La Lonja there was a busy commodity exchange market supervised by the Consolat de Mar to ensure that all commercial transactions complied with the laws in force at the time.

16th Century

At the beginning of the 16th century, plague, foreign rebellions and frequent attacks by Turkish pirates and the Berbers led to a slump in trading and the city entered a period of decline which lasted until the end of the 17th century.

In the 18th century, the Decree of Nueva Planta by Philip V completely changed the island's governmental regime and Palma became the capital of the new province of Baleares. Also in this century, under Charles III, freedom to trade with the Indies was established, leading to an increase in commerce in Majorca and in our city's port.

19th Century

The French occupation of Algeria in the 19th century brought an end to the danger of Maghrebi attacks in Majorca, resulting in the expansion of sea traffic and shipping lines. With this economic growth the city underwent great development in population and size.

The beginning of the 1950's marked the prelude of the tourist phenomenon which was to change the physiognomy of the city and the entire island, transforming it into a centre of attraction for visitors with a sociological interchange of cultures.

Since then the growth of tourism in the Balearics has been spectacular: the 500,000 visitors to the island in 1960 rose to over 6,739,700 in 1997, with 16,562,090 passengers travelling through Palma Airport in 1997 and 143,000 by sea. This put the Balearic Islands into the top position in Spain with respect to the gross domestic product per inhabitant and the only community in Spain to exceed the European Union average.

The Layout of Palma
The Old City
Bordered by large avenues and the sea, the old city was once surrounded and protected by medieval walls which were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century. Only part of the walls facing the sea has been conserved. The old city is a reference of Palma's historic development and a witness of all the peoples who have inhabited it and their different cultures: talayotic, Roman, Muslim, medieval and modern.
The New Town
situated around the old city and consequently outside the medieval walls that once protected it, the new town was established at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of the city's demographic growth. The new town has been subject to the regulations of urban development planning by the architects: Calvet in 1897, Bennàsser in 1917 and Alomar in 1943.
The ´Burbs
The suburbs are formed of districts situated in the outskirts of the city centre and they were built from 1950-1960, the consequence of the huge demographic growth in Palma in the wake of the island's phenomenal tourist boom.