Es Mercadal

Es Mercadal municipality
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Balearic Islands
Island:	Menorca
Coordinates	39 ° 59 ′  N , 4 ° 6 ′  E Coordinates: 39 ° 59 ′  N , 4 ° 6 ′  E
Height :	71  msnm
Area :	138.34 km²
Residents :	5,038 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	36.42 inhabitants / km²
Municipality number  ( INE ):	07037
Nearest airport :	Maó / Sant Lluís ( Aeroport de Menorca , 19 km )
administration
Official language :	Catalan , Castilian
Mayor :	Ramon Orfila Pons ENTESA (Es Mercadal and Fornells)
Website :	www.aj-esmercadal.org
Location of the municipality
Menorca

Es Mercadal (Spanish El Mercadal ) is a municipality in the north of the Spanish Balearic island of Menorca . 5038 people live in Es Mercadal (as of January 1, 2019), of which 974 (as of 2008) are in Fornells . Es Mercadal is 21 km from the island's capital, Maó .

The district of Es Migjorn Gran , which originally belonged to Es Mercadal, became an independent municipality in 1989.

history

Before that, Phoenicians , Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans used the strategic location of Es Mercadal with the port of Fornells, the Byzantines then subjugated it and finally the Arabs . It was not until 1287, in the course of the Christian reconquest of Spain, that Menorca was snatched from the infidels, as the locals called them. The first records of the settlement of today's city come from the Roman historian Pliny , who in the first century described the existence of the place as Call Sanissera Villa , located at the foot of Monte Toro on the north coast of the island.

After King Jaume II recaptured the area occupied by Muslims , it was divided between the king's vassals and Catalan. A group of settlers from Girona built a chapel in 1301 in honor of their patron saint Sant Narcís at the foot of Monte Toro.

At this time the current name of the place Es Mercadal was created, which is made up of the names mercat (market) and setmanal (weekly). ( Lloc on eren celebrats els mercats i les fires dtsch: place to hold markets and festivals ).

At the same time, the three weekly markets in Menorca in Mahon, Ciutadella and around the current parish church of Sant Narcís in Es Mercadal were introduced by decree.

Worth seeing

• Monte Toro , Menorca's highest mountain, Santuario de la Virgen del Toro monastery with a panoramic view of the entire island.
• S'Aljub one of the most important military structures in Menorca. The s'Aljub , is a large water reservoir, the construction of which was ordered by Governor Richard Kane to supply the agricultural area and the settlers with water. This huge cistern is surrounded by walls in the style of large fortifications and is still in use today. The surviving plans were drawn by the English military and are dated to the years 1714–1715.

Personalities

• Guillem Martí (born 1985), football player

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Miquel Àngel; Una societat pagesa en una època de transició: estructura demogràfica des Mercadal; Menorca: Institut Menorquí d'Estudis, DL1995

Web links

Commons : Es Mercadal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Web presence of the municipal administration