2 April 2016
Porto Mahon, Menorca

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

The Balearic Islands sit offshore of Spain, very attractive in many ways.

Possessed of rich and fertile land safe harbors, they were on the ancient trading routes for long-vanished peoples,

as well as for wave upon wave of empire builders including the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Vikings, the Spanish, and the English.

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And right along the watery highway for incoming Islamic tribes, and then for outgoing Crusaders.

Today, close enough for invading holiday makers to hop on a ferry or a flight from the mainland to the beach.

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There are four principal islands in the Balearics:

Ibiza, with its port of the same name.

Mallorca, Spain’s largest island possession, and its second-most populated island (after Tenerife in the Canary Islands.)

And then there is Menorca, and the place we are heading: Porto Mahon.

The fourth largest island is Formentera, and there is also the uninhabited island of Cabrera.

Porto Mahon, pronounced MA-own, is believed to be named after the Carthaginian general Mago Barca, brother to Hannibal, who was said to have taken refuge here in 205 BC.

We’ll be back in Porto Mahon on April 23 and I’ll have more commentary then.

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