MINORCA, second largest of the Balearic Islands, and the most easterly part of Spain, has an individuality and history that set it apart from other members of the group, yet no complete account of it has been written in English for over two hundred years.
The key to its character lies in its deep and sheltered harbour, Port Mahon, one of the finest in Europe, which brought it into contact with many of the ancient Mediterranean civilisations, awakening Minorcans to new ideas, and giving the island a cosmopolitan character.
With its roots in the Eastern Mediterranean (its unique megalithic buildings have affinities with Egypt and Crete), it did not become Spanish until the fourteenth century. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries-again because of its port Britain, France and America formed strong links with the island, from which Minorcans once again experienced new ways of life.
Today, for other reasons, Minorca is still a cosmopolitan island. Each year an increasing number of tourists from Europe, America, South America and the Antipodes come to enjoy its sunshine and its 120 superb beaches, at some of which one can still be alone. Apart from the regular mail steamer, the port is now largely given over to water sports, and occasional cruise ships. The island is one of unusual charm, and remains unsophisticated and free from the tensions of modern life.
La isla blanca y azul (the white and blue island) Minorcans like to call it, referring to its trim white houses and turquoise sea. The contrasts of light and colour in sea, land and sky-at times as vivid and dazzling as a stage-set captivate artists, and can induce a sense of complete relaxation, even of unreality. Silences can be profound, broken only by the sound of distant waves lashing against rocks, or of a human voice carried on the wind.
 

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