The History of Ibiza

Around 2000 BC:

From this time comes the megalithic dolmen grave in Ca Na Costa in the north of Formentera, the only evidence of early inhabitants of the Pityuses. On Ibiza, only sporadic early historical findings have been made, and it is unclear whether they were from visitors or settlers of the island. The ancient Greek writings confirm that the Pityuses were known in antiquity.

Around 700 BC:

The Phoenicians, a seafaring trade people from Tyre in present-day Lebanon, who maintained warehouses throughout the Mediterranean, established a base in Sa Caleta in the southwest of Ibiza.

654 BC:

The Carthaginians, a people descended from the Phoenicians who founded their own state in present-day Tunisia, built the city of Ibosim. The settlement of the island's interior begins. Under the Carthaginians, the natural salt flats on the southern coast are developed into a salt industry. Numerous pottery workshops are established. In addition to the temples for the gods Tanit and Bes, craftsmanship flourishes. Trade thrives, and so does the city. On the Puig des Molins, the necropolis with its underground tombs expands over an area of 50,000m². Among other things, the Carthaginians introduced the sabina and the pomegranate. The Carthaginian general Hannibal (246 - 182 BC), who crossed the Alps with his elephants from the Iberian Peninsula to fight against Rome, is said by legend to have been born on the small Ibiza island of La Conejera off Sant Antoni. However, Menorca also claims this honor.

123 BC:

After Rome's victory in the Third Punic War and the destruction of Carthage, the Romans occupy Ibosim and rename it Ebusus. In 70 BC, the island receives its own minting rights as Municipium Flavium Ebusitanum under the Roman emperor Vespasian. Salt extraction and lead mining near present-day Sant Carles gain importance again. The production of the popular purple dye from a sea snail that is abundant here brings wealth to the island. The Romans introduce the office caste, road and bridge construction, and intensify viticulture. When Emperor Constantine (280 - 337 AD), who moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium, makes Christianity the state religion, Ebusus is also Christianized.

426:

During the Germanic migrations, the East Germanic Vandals under Gaiseric invade the western Mediterranean, establish a new kingdom in North Africa, and rule Ebusus for a century.

533:

The Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian destroys the Vandal kingdom. Ebusus returns to Byzantium.

711:

The Moors defeat the Visigoths, who had settled on the Spanish mainland, and conquer the Balearic Islands. Remnants of the Visigoths establish the Kingdom of Asturias, and in the northeast, the Spanish March of the Frankish Empire with Barcelona as the capital. The internal turmoil also affects the islands, which suffer from constant conquests and changing rulers.

902:

The Caliph of Córdoba occupies Ebusus and renames it Medina Iabissa. Peace returns, and the island flourishes once again. Islam exists as the second religion alongside Christianity. The Moors introduce their rich agricultural knowledge, build terraced fields and irrigation systems, plant orchards and vegetable gardens. Art and science awaken to new life. The island is divided into five administrative districts: Alhaueth, Algarb, Portumany, Benizamid, and Xarch. From 1014, Medina Iabissa belongs to the Caliphate of Denia.

1235:

The Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of Islamic Spain, reaches Medina Iabissa. Led by the Catalan general Guillerm de Montgrí on behalf of the Crown of Aragon, the Christian army defeats the Moors and drives them from the island. The Catalans rename Medina Iabissa to Eivissa and the five districts to Pla de Vila, Ses Salines, Portmany, Balanzat, and Quartó des Rei. These later become the present-day municipalities of Eivissa, Sant Josep de sa Talaia, Sant Antoni de Portmany, Sant Miguel de Balanzat, and Santa Eulària des Ríu. With the founding of the Kingdom of the Balearic Islands in 1276, the Pityuses come under Mallorcan administration.

1469:

The marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon lays the foundation for the Spanish state, to which the Balearic Islands are annexed. However, the Spanish crown is far away, and the pirates are close. Constant raids take many victims. The last residents of Formentera flee to Eivissa, leaving their island lifeless. On Eivissa, watchtowers are built. In 1555, King Carlos I (who ruled as Charles V in Germany) has the city walls rebuilt by the Italian architect Giovanni Battista Calvi and equipped with bastions. The construction takes thirty years. Yet, the population of Eivissa continues to impoverish. In 1652, half of the city population dies from the plague.

1715:

Felipe V of Castile defeats Habsburg Charles II in the Spanish War of Succession. The Balearic Islands, which had fought on the Habsburg side, are now occupied by the Castilians. The crown seizes the saltworks, the only industrial revenue source of the island, and abolishes the autonomous administrative body, the Universitat, which had allowed relative independence since 1299. Castilian becomes the official language, and Eivissa becomes Ibiza. Poverty grows, and so does piracy. To protect themselves from the constant raids by foreign pirates, the Ibizan seafarers become privateers, meaning they are given a letter of marque by the crown, allowing them to seize enemy ships. Spain only signs the abolition of privateering, negotiated with other maritime powers since 1856, in 1908.

1867:

The Habsburg archduke Ludwig Salvator visits Ibiza. The "first tourist of the Balearics" writes a multi-volume work about the archipelago.

1934:

The first hotel is built. On the Spanish mainland, Ibiza is already known among artists and intellectuals as a paradisiacal island. Gradually, it becomes known abroad; among others, the Dadaist Raoul Hausmann, philosopher Walter Benjamin, and writer Paul Elliot spend extended periods on the island. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 puts an end to this. In Ibiza, the Republicans can only resist the fascist Falange from August 8 to September 20, 1936. In 1939, Franco's victory in Spain marks the beginning of the dictatorship.

1958:

With the opening of the airport, tourism begins on Ibiza, overshadowing every other industry. First, artists arrive, then the hippies, followed by package tourists, and finally, the masses. Over the next 50 years, they bring unexpected prosperity, population growth, and changes to the landscape of the Pityuses.

1975:

Franco dies. Juan Carlos I becomes King of Spain and initiates the transition to democracy. In 1978, the constitution is adopted. Spain joins the EU in 1986. Since 1982, the Balearic Islands have been an autonomous region with its own parliament, where the island councils of Mallorca, Menorca, and the Pityuses fiercely fight over their competencies. Since 2007, Ibiza and Formentera have had their own island councils. Catalan is reintroduced as an official language alongside Castilian and is increasingly used as the language of instruction in schools. At the airport, it says Ibiza/Eivissa.

1999:

UNESCO declares the walled old town of Ibiza with the adjacent necropolis on Puig des Molins, the remains of the first Phoenician settlement in Sa Caleta, and the seagrass meadows between the salt flats of Ibiza and Formentera as a World Heritage Site.