History of the Jews in the Balearic Islands History of the Jews in the Balearic Islands The history of the Jews in the Balearic Islands goes back more than a thousand years. Jews have lived in the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, belonging to Spain. These are situated to the east of Valencia, the three principal of which are named Majorca (Spanish, Mallorca), Minorca (Menorca), and Eivissa or Ibiza. The group first formed the Kingdom of Majorca; later it became a Spanish province under the domination of Aragon. According to the chroniclers, there were Jewish inhabitants in the Balearic Isles as early as the 2nd century. In the
Ottoman raid on the Balearic Islands (1501) Ottoman raid on the Balearic Islands (1501) An Ottoman raid on the Balearic Islands occurred in 1501 under the Ottoman admiral Kemal Reis. This raid was combined with attacks on Sardinia and Pianosa (near the island of Elba). The 1501 raid on the Balearics followed some of the earliest interventions of the Ottomans in the western Mediterranean. These interventions were in response to the Fall of Granada and the help the last Muslim ruler there had requested from the Ottoman Empire in his fight against Castile. Upon this request, the Ottoman sultan Bayezid sent a fleet under Kemal Reis to