Gabriel Ensenyat: "Historically, the concept of 'Balearic identity' is not even remotely tenuous."

Palm"There is a very clear example regarding Balearic identity, which is repeated a handful of times even in the Nueva Planta Decrees," recounts Gabriel Ensenyat (Andratx, 1961), author of the essay Balearic Roots? The Balearic Subterfuge, winner of City of Manacor Award From the essay by Antoni Maria Alcover. "When one island ran out of wheat one year, they would ask another, using the excuse that they were part of the same kingdom and had to help each other. And if the other island didn't want to share, it would reply that each island would go its own way. Years later, however, the tables were turned, and the islands exchanged arguments. 'Isn't it vaporous?' he adds, laughing.

He has set out to demonstrate that the Balearic identity has no historical basis. There will be more than one person who will be pulling their hair out.

— More than one and two [Laughs]. But I had touched on this, incidentally, in other essays, where I suggested that this sentiment doesn't exist and that everyone considers themselves to be from their island. Historically, this has always been the case, ever since we have records of the first humans. Sometimes we talk about the Talayotic culture as if it belonged to the Balearic Islands, when it only belongs to Menorca and Mallorca. And I felt that all of this deserved in-depth study, an investigation into why the feeling of Balearic identity has never taken root.

Even so, many efforts have been made in recent times to achieve it.

— There's been an attempt to promote a Balearic identity from above, from the institutions. And I don't criticize it, I think it's fine, but it didn't arise spontaneously from the people, not at all. If you hear someone say "Rafael Nadal the Balearic," you know he's not from here; it's something imposed and widespread from elsewhere. And I'm telling you, I don't see it as a bad thing; I have no reservations about any kind of Balearic identity at a political level. Well, maybe one.

Which?

— The pseudo-Balearic anti-Catalan sentiment. This also has deep roots and is still present today—this idea of creating a remote and invented Balearic identity that erases our Catalan heritage, a historical fact shared by all Mallorcans today, whether they like it or not. But just because you don't like something doesn't mean you can deny it. It's like a Barça fan saying Real Madrid hasn't won the Champions League, when they win it all the time [Laughs]. It might seem exaggerated, but I'd say the correlation is exact. It's denying reality simply because you don't like it.

Language has also played an important role in this.

— I dedicate a chapter of the essay to this topic, although I don't delve into the absurdities surrounding the Balearic language and the academy they claim to have. But I did want to make it clear that there isn't a single Balearic language, but rather dialects on each island and subdialects within each, all derived from Catalan. Colloquially, it's never been called Catalan; affectionately, we've always referred to it as Mallorcan, Menorcan, and so on. But that doesn't imply questioning whether one thing is related to the other, because otherwise, we'd just fall back into a pseudo-debate based on nonsense.

And sometimes supposedly historical arguments are used that are not.

I wanted to highlight the continuity of these ideas, and I do so by also addressing some inaccuracies that have been made. These aren't the words of people who just spout off about things they don't know, but rather of people with intellectual backgrounds who clung to the idea of Balearic identity without historical basis. Perhaps there are genetic or even geographical factors—although geography can serve both to unite and divide us—but historical ones? From a historical perspective, each island has always pursued its own path, and the term 'Balearic kingdom' has only been used when it was convenient.

Interviews with the other winners of the Ciutat de Manacor 2025 awards.