Ibiza - Eivissa | History | Balearic Islands, Spain, Europe

Ibiza's history dates back to the Phoenicians (7th century BC), although there is evidence of earlier human settlements. Its strategic location made communications easy, allowing it to trade with and control the whole of the Western Mediterranean. Ibiza city was founded in 654 BC and stood on the same site as today’s Ibiza Town, which boasts a large deep natural harbour and a steep hill ideal for a fortified town. The most important commodity of the island was salt, known as "white gold", and the Phoenicians built the "Salinas" salt flats, still in use today, to extract salt from seawater by a process of natural evaporation.

The Greeks, who visit the island during Phoenicians times, called the two sister islands of Ibiza and Formentera the Pitiusas, or "pine-covered islands". With the decline of Phoenicia, Ibiza came under the control of Carthage, itself a former Phoenician colony, and the island became a major trading post along the Mediterranean routes. After the fall of Carthage during the Punic Wars, Ibiza was administrated by Rome, although with much autonomy, and in the 1st century AD the island became the Roman "Ebusus", a name it would maintain for over five centuries. During the Roman Empire, the island became a quiet imperial outpost, staying away from the most important trading routes of the time.

After the fall of the Roman empire and a brief period of first Vandal and then Byzantine rule, the island was conquered by the Moors in the 7th century and was formally annexed to the Califato of Cordoba in 902. Its name changed to "Yebysah", which gave way to today "Ibiza" or "Eivissa" in Catalan. The Arabs left a deep trace on the island, significantly improving farming methods, water systems and culture, their heritage still very much present nowadays in many ways.

The island was reclaimed for Christendom by Aragonese King James I "The Conqueror" in 1235, as the Balearic islands of Majorca and Minorca. The ruling Catalans from the Spanish mainland neglected the island over the following centuries, allowing pirates to thrive in the area. To defend themselves from the plundering pirates, the locals built defensive churches with massive walls and a wide network of coastal watchtowers as an early warning system, many of these still standing today. Over the next five centuries, although Ibiza had its own self-governement, the relationship between Ibiza and Catalonia was very close and still today Catalan is, together with Spanish, the official language of the island. This ties will end in 1715 during the War of Successions to the Spanish Crown, when Philip V of Spain abolished the local government's autonomy and incorporated the island into the Castillan system.

Since then, the island enjoyed a sleepy history with hardly any relevant social or historical changes. That was till the 60's and the arrival of hippies, artists and bohemian who endowed Ibiza with the status of a counter culture paradise. Today, ibiza is part of the the Balearic Islands autonomous community and a melting pot of nationalities with a strong cosmopolitan atmosphere. Its multicultural population still endures "pacific" seasonal invasions of tourists from Europe and the mainland with an attitude of acceptance and friendliness, which has allowed the islanders to survive and thrive for centuries.