Balearic donkey like, and for draught, pulling small carts; jacks were used to sire mules. Balearic donkey The Balearic donkey, , , is a breed of domestic donkey indigenous to the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean off the eastern coast of Spain. Although found mainly in Mallorca, the largest island of the group, it is found also in Menorca, where it was much used for mule-breeding; it is no longer present in the islands of Eivissa and Formentera. It is officially called the ; until 2006 the breed was known as the , and was also referred to
Balearic Islands at 30,000. The part of the Mediterranean east of Spain, around the Balearic Isles, was called "Mare Balearicum", or "Sinus Balearicus". The Vandals under Genseric conquered the Islands sometime between 461 and 468 during their war on the Roman Empire. However, in late 533 or early 534, following the Battle of Ad Decimum, the troops of Belisarius reestablished control of the islands for the Byzantine Empire. Imperial power receded precipitately in the western Mediterranean after the fall of Carthage and the Exarchate of Africa to the Umayyad Caliphate in 698, and in 707 the islands submitted to the terms of