Often and unfairly maligned as an overdeveloped, package-tourist
nightmare, boomerang-shaped Menorca is, in fact, the least
developed - and second largest - member of the Balearic Islands.
Unlike its neighbours, Menorca remains essentially rural, its
rolling fields, wooded ravines and humpy hills filling out the
interior in between its two main - but still small - towns of
Maó and Ciutadella . Much of this landscape looks
pretty much as it did at the turn of the twentieth century and only
on the edge of the island, and then only in parts, have its rocky
coves been colonized by sprawling villa complexes. Neither is the
development likely to spread: the resorts have been kept at a
discreet distance from the two main towns, and this is how the
Menorcans like it. Furthermore, determined to protect their island
from the worst excesses of the tourist industry, the Menorcans have
clearly demarcated development areas and are meanwhile pushing
ahead with a variety of environmental schemes.
Menorca is littered with prehistoric monuments, weatherworn
stone remains that are evidence of a sophisticated culture. Little
is known for sure of the island's prehistory, but the monuments are
thought to be linked to those of Sardinia and are classified as
part of the second-millennium BC Talayot culture .
Talayots are the rock mounds found all over the island -
popular belief has it that they functioned as watchtowers, but it's
a theory few experts accept. They have no interior stairway, and
only a few are found on the coast. Even so, no one has come up with
a much more convincing explanation. The megalithic taulas -
huge stones topped with another to form a T, around 4m high and
unique to Menorca - are even more puzzling. They have no obvious
function, and they are almost always found alongside a
talayot . Some of the best-preserved talayot and
taula remains are on the edge of Maó at the Trepucó
site. Then there are navetas (dating from 1400 to 800 BC),
stone-slab constructions shaped like an inverted loaf tin. Many
have false ceilings, and although you can stand up inside they were
clearly not living spaces - communal pantries, perhaps, or more
probably tombs.
In more recent history, the long and slender, deep-water channel
of the port of Maó promoted Menorca to an important position in
European affairs. The British saw its potential as a naval base
during the War of the Spanish Succession and achieved their aim by
having the island ceded to them through the Treaty of Utrecht
(1713). Spain regained possession in 1783, but with the threat of
Napoleon in the Mediterranean, a new British base was temporarily
established under admirals Nelson and Collingwood. The British
influence is still considerable, especially in architecture: the
sash windows so popular in Georgian design are still sometimes
referred to as winderes , locals often part with a fond
bye-bye , and there's a substantial expatriate community.
The British also moved the capital from Ciutadella to Maó and
constructed the main island road. More importantly they introduced
the art of distilling juniper berries: Menorcan gin
(Xoriguer, Beltran or Nelson) is renowned.
Before much of it was killed off by tourism, Menorcan
agriculture had become highly advanced. A dry stone wall
protected every field from the tramóntana (the vicious north
wind), which ripped away the topsoil, and even olive trees had
their roots individually protected in little stone wells. Nowadays,
apart from a few acres of rape and corn, many of the fields are
barren, but the walls survive. Any vegetation that dares to emerge
above their safety is soon swept away by the gusts.