University of the Balearic Islands University of the Balearic Islands The University of the Balearic Islands (, UIB; ; ) is a Balearic Spanish university, founded in 1978 and located in Palma on the island of Majorca. The origins of the University date back to 1483, when King Ferdinand II of Aragon authorized the foundation of the in Palma, Majorca. This college was named after the philosopher and writer Ramon Llull (1232–1315). It operated until 1835 when it was closed following intense debate. After 1835, students from the Balearic Islands attended university in Cervera, and subsequently in Barcelona. There was no higher education institution in
Balearic Islands islands. Catalan is designated as a "llengua pròpia", literally "own language" in its statute of autonomy. The Balearic dialect features several differences from standard Catalan. Practically all residents of the Balearic Islands speak Spanish fluently. In 2003 74.6% of the Islands' residents also knew how to speak Catalan and 93.1% could understand it. Other languages, such as English, German, French and Italian, are often spoken by locals, especially those who work in the tourism industry. Circa 2017 there were 1,115,999 residents of the Balearics; 16.7% of the islands' population were foreign (non-Spanish). At that time the islands had 23,919 Moroccans,