Palma, Majorca

Palma (/ˈpɑːlmə/ or /ˈpɑːmə/, Catalan: [ˈpalmə], Spanish: [ˈpalma]), in full Palma de Mallorca, is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of the island Majorca on the Bay of Palma. As of the 2009 census, the population of the city of Palma proper was 401,270, and the population of the entire urban area was 621,000, ranking as the twelfth largest urban area of Spain. Almost half of the total population of Majorca live in Palma. The Cabrera Archipelago, though widely separated from Palma proper, is administratively considered part of the municipality. Its airport, Son Sant Joan, serves over 22 million passengers each year. The Marivent Palace was offered by the city to King Felipe VI of Spain. The royals have since spent their summer holidays in Palma.

History

Palma was founded as a Roman camp upon the remains of a Talaiotic settlement. The city was subjected to several Vandal sackings during the fall of the Western Roman Empire, then reconquered by the Byzantine Empire, then colonised by the Moors (who called it Medina Mayurqa) and, in the 13th century, by James I of Aragon.