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The island of Cabrera and the larger islets were visited by the main Mediterranean civilizations: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Byzantines and Romans. Its name owes its origin to the mountain goats that inhabited the island.



Legend has it that the Carthaginian general Aníbal Barca was born on one of the islets that surround it: Sa Coniera. [1]



During the 13th and 14th centuries, the island of Cabrera and its natural port was used by Berber pirates as a base from which to attack the Mallorcan coast. For this reason, as early as the 14th century, a castle was built at the entrance to the port. This castle prevented the port from being used as a pirate base and allowed greater surveillance of the waters near Mallorca.

The captivity of Cabrera [edit]

Port of Cabrera



According to the French journalists Pellisier and Phelipieau (Les grognards de Cabrera (1809-1814) this island was a place of inhuman captivity for the French soldiers defeated in Bailén. In 1808 the Spanish War of Independence broke out. After the Spanish victory of Bailén, the French soldiers taken prisoner (about 18,000 men) had different fates. The highest ranking officers and soldiers were taken to France - such as Dupont or Ligier-Belier - where they were automatically dismissed and victims of Napoleon's anger, since he considered surrender like cowardice. A group of about 4,000 prisoners were taken to the Canary Islands, where they ended up rebuilding their lives and integrating, running without knowing it, much better luck than the rest of their compatriots. The vast majority (about 9,000 men) were taken to the island of Cabrera.



According to the Capitulations of Andújar (July 22, 1808), [2] the French prisoners were to be taken to France from Cádiz on English ships. This will not be fulfilled, among others by the military Governor of Cádiz, who decides to send them to the islands. Meanwhile, the prisoners were held captive on pontoons in Sanlúcar.



His journey began on April 9, 1809, departing from the Bay of Cádiz, and hoping to return to his homeland. The journey is painful due to prolonged crowding and storms; dysentery spreads on board. Finally, the possible exchange with Spanish prisoners in France is not fulfilled, and the prisoners are "released" on the Island of Cabrera.



This captivity was the first concentration camp in history. [3] There was no building used as a jail on the island, but rather, the prison was the island itself. The food supply arrived from Mallorca every four days, distributing the minimum food to survive until the next supply. The problem occurred when, due to the storms in the channel that connects the Majorcan island and that of Cabrera, the shipment was delayed, making a total of eight days without sending anything to the island, giving rise to a failed attempt to be made with the ship by the French, which angered the suppliers very much, so they did not want to return [citation needed]. While another group of people and another ship were found to accept the job of restocking food in Cabrera, up to two months passed. At this time there were situations of real hardship, many deaths from starvation. People did not have food, there was no fauna to feed on and on many occasions to give some flavor to the broths they made they put their own clothes, they also ingested plants that on many occasions were poisonous, carrying different diseases.



Cannibalism and coprophagia [4] were practiced among them by a group that separated from the majority living in the caves (called Tatars), although the vast majority deny this opinion and justify that although they could be thought of extreme situations of weakness and suffering, this fact was rejected due to the disgust that the idea of ​​being able to eat one of his own [citation needed] produced in him. What they do say is true is that they ingested their own feces when they did it or when an officer arrived on the island with nausea from the trip, when he vomited many prisoners already in dying situations, they ingested it. [Citation needed]



The captivity ended in 1814 when the peace was signed. Of every four prisoners who arrived in Cabrera, three died, only about 3600 people survived of those who arrived, plus other prisoners sent from the Napoleonic wars who also perished. In memory of those who perished in these suffering circumstances, buried in the French cemetery, a monolith was erected on the island.

End of the 19th and 20th centuries [edit]



At the end of the 19th century, the island of Cabrera became private property. The owners, the Feliu family (Feliu de Cabrera) try to grow vines on the island. For this they built a winery, which is currently used as a museum.



In 1916 the archipelago was expropriated for defense interests, however, the ex-owner family maintained a long and costly lawsuit against the State, in which they invested part of their fortune; and that years later, the supreme magistrate ruled in favor of the central administration; the Feliu family had to use part of the expropriation money to cover the expenses. Later a small garrison was established on the island of Cabrera. The island would be used until its conversion into a National Park as a target practice area. This military presence protected the natural environment by preventing the archipelago from being the object of real estate speculation.



Geography [edit]

Castell de Cabrera



The island of La Cabrera is the most important of the entire archipelago, made up of 19 other smaller islands and islets that surround it. It has an extremely cut coastline, with a perimeter of 39 kilometers and some cliffs of great beauty and other coastal accidents such as: capes, coves, sandy and pebble beaches and coastal caves of great beauty such as Sa Cova Blava. The most notable cliffs are in Na Picamosques to the SW with 172 m, in Cape Ventós (120 m) to the NE and in Punta Anciola (99 m) in the extreme south. [5]



The materials that make up these islands are tertiary limestone, marl and dolomite, similar to those of Mallorca. Not surprisingly, the archipelago is the extension of the Majorcan Sierra de Levante, to which it was attached some 12,000 years ago. The stratification of the materials and the effect of the folding and overlapping of different orientation are visible and spectacular from the sea. The calcareous nature of the Cabrera lands has given rise to karst phenomena such as chasms and caves, with relatively large underground lakes.



In its longest part, Cabrera has a length of about 7 km. and about 5 km. in the widest. Its highest point is the summit of Cabrera at 179 meters of altitude.

Climate [edit]



The local climate is semi-arid Mediterranean, with average annual temperatures of 18ºC, a little higher than the temperatures of the immediate Majorcan coast, and a low rainfall of 350 mm on average.

Fauna and flora [edit]

Eleonor's Falcon



See Fauna and flora of the Cabrera National Park for more information.



The seabirds stand out, such as the Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), the Audouin's gull (Larus audouinii), the gray shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) and the shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis); and raptors, such as the osprey (Pandion haliaetus), the sea falcon (or Eleonor's falcon, Falco eleonorae) and the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), which are one of the most important natural values ​​of the park, to which we must add the passage of more than 130 species of migratory birds.



The most characteristic vegetation of Cabrera is the scrubland of wild olive trees (Olea Europea silvestris) and junipers (Juniperus phoenicea), although there are some extensive areas of pine forest. The Llampúdol bord (Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris) stands out, a shrub endemic to the Balearic Islands that is only found on the islands of Mallorca, Menorca and Cabrera.

Protection measures [edit]



To go to Cabrera with your own boat it is necessary to request a navigation permit from the National Park management. All natural resources are protected and therefore sport fishing or hunting is not allowed, nor is it allowed to collect natural products, or extract any mineral.

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