Santa Margalida () is a municipality with a population of 10,204 located in the northeast of the Spanish Balearic Island

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

. The municipality includes three settlements, the main one being Santa Margalida, away from the coast. Two smaller settlements are also included in the municipality: Can Picafort and Son Serra de Marina, which are touristic towns directly located on the coast of the bay of

Alcúdia Alcúdia () is a municipality and township of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is the main tourism, tourist centre in the north of Majorca on the eastern coast. It is a large r ...

. The non-national population stands at 23.6% (2,413).

Geography

Geographical location

The municipality of Santa Margalida lies about from the island's capital, Palma. It is part of the region (

Comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

) Plà de Mallorca or Es Plà, the central plain of the island. The municipality is one of the flattest on Mallorca at very little more than above sea level. The area is drained by a few streams which flow towards the sea in the northeast. In the northwest, Santa Margalida is bordered by a fresh-water swamp. Along the northeastern coast, there are obelisks at regular intervals of . These, along with corresponding twin towers inland, were used in the 19th century as navigational points of reference for seafarers.

Neighbouring municipalities

In the northwest, Santa Margalida is bordered by Muro and Llubí. Both of which belong to Es Plà, along with Maria de la Salut, Ariany and

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

to the south. In the east, the ''Torrent de na Borges'' - the longest stream in Mallorca - forms the border to

Artà Artà () is one of the 53 independent municipalities on the Spain, Spanish Balearic Islands, Balearic island of Majorca. The small town of the same name is the administrative seat of this municipality in the region (''Comarca'') of Llevant. Pop ...

in the

Llevant Llevant (, Catalan for "East") is a ''comarca'' on the east side of the Balearic island of Majorca. It includes the following municipalities: * Artà * Capdepera * Manacor * Santa Margalida * Son Servera * Sant Llorenç des Cardassar Sant Llor ...

region.

Community arrangement

The municipality of Santa Margalida has three towns. The population following figures date from 1 January 2005, and don't include the population outside these settlements, hence the sum of the figures does not add up to the total population of the municipality (Source: INE). * Can Picafort (5,685 Inhabitants) * Santa Margalida (3,195 Inhabitants) * Son Serra de Marina (535 Inhabitants)

Santa Margalida

Due to the presence of archeological sites, it has been proven that the region has been inhabited since 7 c. BCE - 2 c. BCE. During the musling occupation, the region belonged to the district of Muruh, which during the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

was divided in between the parish of Muro and the parish of Santa Margalida. Development around the parish led to the founding of the village of Santa Margalida, and despite the collapse of the main building in a fire on 1320, it was rebuilt in the same location. It is stated in the Llibre del Repartiment that count Ponç IV d'Empúries would be the ruler of the territory. For centuries Santa Margalida would not develop much, and the main economic activity was agriculture, focusing on

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

. During the reign of the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

, inhabitants of Santa Margalida would migrate to

Tàrbena (, ) is a municipalities of Spain, municipality in the of , Alicante (province), Alicante, Valencian Community, Valencia, Spain. History It had been subjected to religious de-population and later re-population by an entirely different race of ...

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

. The reasoning behind this was the expelling of the

Morisco ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable Mus ...

population, leading to the need for able workers. This is why the catalan dialect spoken on

has some features similar to

balearic catalan Balearic ( ) is the group of dialects of Catalan spoken in the Balearic Islands: in Mallorca, in Ibiza and ''menorquí'' in Menorca. At the 2011 census, 861,232 respondents in the Balearic Islands claimed to be able to understand either B ...

. * La Beata is the main celebration of the town. Due to the cultural origins of the municipality, it is based on religious beliefs venerating a saint. This cultural celebration takes place yearly, on the first sunday of September. This festivity is held in great esteem by the Margalidans due to the fact that it hails the town's patron.

Can Picafort

Can Picafort (or Ca'n Picafort) is a coastal town on the ''Bay of Alcúdia''. Between the Port d'Alcudia in the north of the bay and Can Picafort, there is a long sandy beach lined with hotels and restaurants. The origins of the town take place around the end of XIX c. when Jeroni "Picafort" Fuster, alongside other Margalidans decided to build summer residences closer to the beach as well as deciding to invest into fishing. The focus of the village would be fishing and the development would be quite low for most of the village's existence, but due to the interest in tourism and the transition to democracy, the population increased, overtaking Santa Margalida on the 90s. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, the

Nationalist faction The Nationalist faction (), also Rebel faction () and Francoist faction () was a major faction in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. It was composed of a variety of right-leaning political groups that supported the Spanish Coup of July 1936 ...

built

bunkers A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

on the rocky seaside in order to repel a possible Republican faction amphibian invasion. These bunkers were mantained in case the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

attempted an attack during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. From 1950 onwards, no military document mentions them again. Their mantainance was stopped short after the end of the conflict without ever being used. Can Picafort is well set up for tourism and the beach's promenade offers many Bars and Restaurants, as well as services and rentals. This town is the main economic powerhouse of the municipality, focusing on tourism, despite the presence of an industrial estate. Can Picafort isn't just popular during peak season. Off-Season, due to the mild winters and relatively flat terrain, the town is frequented by cyclists. It is however considerably quieter and many of the businesses close. Aerial view of Can Picafort

In the 1990s, the population here exceeded that of the main town Santa Margalida and the town has become an important residence. Major items of infrastructure can also be found here such as a town hall, a library, a police station and a sports center. * Necropolis de Son Real: A short hike southeast alongside the beach would lead to the necropolis of ''Son Real'', a pre-historic (7 c. BCE - 2 c. BCE) burial site on the seaside rediscovered on the twentieth century unique to the Balearic Islands, which has been severely vandalized and has gone through restoration efforts. Situated closeby is a minute island, ''S'Illot des Porros''. Both are the remains of the

Talaiot A talaiot, or talayot (), is a Bronze Age megalith found on the islands of Menorca and Majorca forming part of the Talaiotic Culture or Talaiotic Period. Talaiots date back to the late second millennium and early first millennium BC. There are ...

culture from the early history of Mallorca. From there, following the seaside path southeast would lead to Son Serra de Marina. * Natural reserve of S'Albufera: wetland borders about of the bay and prevents the two towns from joining. It is a protected natural park with abundant flora such as

Reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

, Fennel pondweed,

Populus alba ''Populus alba'', commonly called silver poplar,Webb, C. J.; Sykes, W. R.; Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons. 4. Christchurch, New Zealand, Botany Division, D.S.I.R. si ...

and

Psathyrella ''Psathyrella'' is a large genus of about 400 species, and is similar to the genera ''Coprinellus'', ''Coprinopsis'', ''Coprinus'' and ''Panaeolus'', usually with a thin pileus (mycology), cap and white or yellowish white hollow stipe (mycology), ...

. Fauna is also abundant, more than 303 bird species have been spotted due the Albufera being a spotover for migratory birds, while native Mullet and

European eel The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel. Their life history was a mystery for thousands of years, and mating in the wild has not yet been observed. The five stages of their development were originally thought to be differe ...

, as well as Pelophylax perezi can also be found in the park. The park is also noteworthy for its naturally formed coastal dunes, which date over 10.000 years old.

Son Serra de Marina

This touristic village south of Can Picafort extends for about along the Bay of Alcúdia. It is built exclusively of two-storied houses, most of which have been constructed as secondary residences for locals. Streetlife there is accordingly quiet. Only during the holiday seasons will the owners come here from Palma or the mainland. In contrast to Can Picafort, mass tourism has not yet reached this place. Son Serra de Marina features a small marina on its western beach. In the east, the town is limited by the ''Torrent de na Borges''. The beach there is a resort for

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

and kite surfers. The town has three moderately frequented beaches. The local one west of the ''Torrent de na Borges'', approximately long and wide, is mostly visited by local residents. East of the town lies the long beach of Sa Canova, which belongs to the Artà municipality and almost extends to Colonia de Sant Pere's neighbourhood of S'Estanyol. To the west, slightly offside the settlement is the beach of Son Real. A hiking trail along the coast leads to Can Picafort.

Culture and sightseeing

Churches

* Parish Church ''Santa Margalida''

Building sites

* Necropolis of ''Son Real'' and ''S'Illot des Porros'' (

culture)

Nature

* ''Parc natural de s'Albufera de Mallorca'' bird sanctuary

Beaches

Beaches and bays in the municipality of Santa Margalida include '' Platja de Can Picafort'', '' Platja de son Bauló'', '' s'Arenal d'en Casat'', '' Cala Serralot'', '' Platja de son Real'', '' Platja de es Dolç'' and '' Platja de son Serra de Marina''.

Festivals

* ''Festes de Santa Margalida'', feast of the Patron Saint around 20 July * ''Festes de la Beata'' in honor of Santa Catalina Tomàs, 1st Sunday in September

Notable people

* Juan March (1880–1962), banker - founder of ''Banca March''

References

External links

Official website

Official Can Picafort website

Informació de l'Institut d'Estadística de les Illes Balears

{{authority control Municipalities in Mallorca Populated places in Mallorca