Portocristo, Portocolom, Colonia de Sant Jordi, and Colonia de Sant Pere are remnants of the agricultural centers founded in the mid-19th century to exploit coastal lands previously considered unproductive. At the beginning of the 20th century, they were home to the first summer resorts in Mallorca.
PalmIn the mid-19th century, Mallorcans stopped entrenching themselves inland and began to inhabit the coast as well. It was an ancestrally feared place for being a gateway to epidemics and pirate attacks. This new relationship was marked by a series of state laws aimed at promoting agricultural colonies. María de la Salud researcher Bartomeu Pastor Sureda explains: "It was a project undertaken throughout the state. In the Balearic Islands, they were only created in Mallorca. The most important were those along the coast (four), which are the ones that still survive, although for residential use. At that time, they were unproductive because they were too thin. They were used for growing mainly vineyards and almond trees, but also fig trees, carob trees, and cereals for making bread."
The landowners exploited these lands by leasing or selling plots. Since the vast majority of people at the time didn't have enough money to make such a significant investment, the legislation offered a series of incentives. They were exempt from paying any type of tax and housing contributions. Likewise, those of military service age were exempt from drawing lots. "It was," Pastor asserts, "an opportunity to stem the flow of emigration that Mallorca had been suffering since the beginning of the 19th century. Given the huge labor force needed by the agricultural colonies, many families decided not to leave to 'make the Americas.' Young people who feared being called up had the same incentive." In 1874, the first agricultural colony was established in Campos, under the name of Ses Comunes Velles. It was very small, with only eleven hectares and eight inhabitants.
Starting in 1876, the draining of the Albufera de Alcudia lagoon by English engineers allowed the creation of two other inland colonies, which would eventually mint their own currency. One was Gatamoix, near the present-day Sant Martí grotto. Later known as Sant Lluís, it was one of the largest, with 200 workers, mostly from Pollença. The other, La Vileta, otherwise known as Cas Fusteret, was built about two kilometers from sa Pobla, on the Muro road. Its approximately 40 jobs were filled by people from Alaró and Consell. In 1876, in Llucmajor, around 100 people were in charge of cultivating 287 hectares of the Son Mendivil and Cases Noves de s'Aljub estates. It was the colony that developed a larger urban center.
The first agricultural settlement on the seafront dates back to 1870 and was founded within the municipal area that today belongs to ses Salines. It covered more than 200 hectares, managed by around 150 people. It was named Colonia de Sant Jordi in honor of the son of its founder, Guillem Abrí Dezcallar, Marquis of Palmer, owner of the Valle estate, which was later purchased by the Santa Margalida banker and smuggler, Joan March. In 1877, in Felanitx, the settlement of Ca n'Alou and Pla de la Sínia was established. It was the largest on the coast, with 560 hectares for 270 day laborers. Over time, it would give rise to the current place name of Portocolom, which comes from a nearby medieval farmstead with Latin roots.
Fishermen in Colonia de Sant Jordi at the beginning of the 20th century.Arxiu Rafel Bauçà GinardFishermen in Colonia de Sant Jordi at the beginning of the 20th century.Arxiu Rafel Bauçà Ginard
Dating back to 1880, in Artà, was the Colonia de Sant Pere, probably named after the patron saint of fishermen. It occupied 400 hectares of a group of farms. And in 1888, on the coast of Manacor, in the 14-hectare estate of La Marineta, a hundred seasonal workers began to operate the Colonia Agrícola del Carmen, the embryo of today's Portocristo—the name recalled a 13th-century legend about the arrival of a votive offering ship after a storm. The last agricultural colony in Mallorca dates from 1891. It was in the Cabrera archipelago, named Villa Cristina in honor of Queen Maria Cristina. It focused on the cultivation of vineyards and employed more than 100 people, mainly from Muro.
Change of appearance
In 1889, the Mallorcan countryside suffered a terrible crisis, which worsened due to population growth—between 1860 and 1887, the island had grown from 209,064 inhabitants to 249,008. In 1889, according to contemporary chronicles, 10,000 islanders, 4% of the population, emigrated. The situation worsened in 1891 with the invasion of phylloxera, which devastated the vineyards. "Not everything," Pastor points out, "was the fault of this pandemic. Mallorcan wine was very sour. It had very low alcohol content. When it reached France, they ended up throwing it away."
This agricultural crisis had a direct impact on the colonies' income. Furthermore, in 1898, with the loss of Cuba and the Philippines, many young men no longer felt the pain of being called up and stopped working there. Thus, of the nine that existed, only four survived, the seafaring ones: the Colonia de San Jorge, the Colonia de San Pedro, Portocolom, and Portocristo. "Their former day laborers eventually became fishermen and began converting their shacks into homes." The change in appearance occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. The "sea and sun bathing" recommended by hygiene theories from Europe encouraged the wealthy classes to have their own residences by the sea.
In the 1930s, this therapeutic trend coincided with the rise of tourism. In 1932, in Colonia de Sant Jordi, the Marquis of Palmer built the first tourist establishment, the Hotel Playa. Its history can be followed in the book Sant Jordi Colony. Children of their time (2021). "At first," says the author, the researcher from Campanero Cosme Rigo, "the residents of Palma de Mallorca of a certain economic level were more likely to stay there than foreigners. They were mainly friends or acquaintances of the Marquis. One of their illustrious guests was General Francisco Franco, who was then stationed on the island as military commander of the Balearic Islands."
Those first tourists were the bright spot in a town that, in the early 1930s, had more than 200 inhabitants and was officially called 'Colonia de Campos' or 'Puerto de Campos' (later referred to as 'Campos del Puerto'). Some worked in the salt extraction process in the Ses Salines salt ponds, and others in the magnesium factory that was built in the 1920s. Schools were also built for their children.
Civil War
When the military uprising broke out in July 1936, Colonia Sant Jordi took on a paramount strategic importance. "According to sources gathered by Father Massot and Muntaner," Rigo indicates, "the Republican army studied the possibility of Trenc and Carbó beaches being the landing site for Captain Bayo's troops. On the other side, they had already occupied Cabrera, which was to serve as an aircraft carrier and base camp. They were alerted and sent mobile columns and machine guns to Colonia San Jorge to stop the invasion, which finally moved to Portocristo on August 16."
During the Civil War, the Hotel Playa hosted Italian air squadrons that Benito Mussolini sent to support Franco to bomb the Spanish Levant. They had a landing strip in Ses Salines, which was set up over a field of fig trees to relieve congestion at Son Bonet airfield in Palma. "Bruno Mussolini, one of Il Duce's sons, stayed in another house in the area," Rigo notes. "Another famous guest was the glamorous Hollywood actress Natacha Rambova. When the conflict broke out, she accompanied her husband, Álvaro de Urzaiz, an officer in the Spanish Navy, to guard the Covetes beach (Campos). "She was one of the few women who drove to the island at that time. She was almost a victim of the first bombings by Republican planes."
Colonia de Sant Jordi was the non-urban area on the seashore where the most bombings were recorded. "There were no deaths. Although it had a small population, with the attacks the Republicans were primarily seeking a response from the insurgents. They wanted to locate the cannons they had in the area to prepare for Bayo's landing, which ended up being diverted. The last bombing was on August 20." After the war, two concentration camps were established in the vicinity of Colonia de Sant Jordi. One was the Baños de San Juan de la Fontsanta, near a spa resort belonging to the old Palma aristocracy, and the other was Can Farineta. "Its inmates were dedicated to building sections of the municipality's roads."
From the 1960s onward, Colonia de Sant Jordi became the preferred summer resort for Palma residents, Porreres residents, salineros, and Montuireros residents. Colonia de Sant Pere would attract a more bohemian demographic, especially from Palma. The other two, which changed their name, Portocolom and Portocristo, would accommodate residents from the surrounding area. Today, there is no reason to believe that these summer camps were originally intended for agricultural purposes.
Nest of Nazi spies
During the Civil War, Colonia de Sant Jordi became a nest of Nazi spies. This was the great discovery that Campanero researcher Cosme Rigo made in 2021 while interviewing people for the book Colònia de Sant Jordi. Children of Their Time . "In Guerra Civil y represión en Mallorca (1997)," Rigo asserts, "Father Massot y Muntaner already gave clues in this regard. He explains that in 1935, Gil Robles, then Minister of War, decided to carry out a series of fortification works on the island. He commissioned them to German engineers, who were actually spies. There were a dozen of them in Colonia de Sant Jordi."
Those spies were trying to remain unnoticed in a town that at the time had around 200 inhabitants. "Everything points to the fact that they were engaged in monitoring the Cabrera Channel, which was where French and English ships passed through. The information they gathered was invaluable when the Second World War broke out." The Cabrera archipelago, 13.5 kilometers from Colonia de Sant Jordi, had already played a leading role during the First World War. In 1915, the State expropriated it from the Feliu family, who initiated litigation to recover possessions they had held since the late 19th century. The person responsible for this operation was the Santa Margalida financier and smuggler, Joan March. Sir Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the British Admiralty, was tired of Verga using this little corner of the Balearic Islands to supply fuel to Austro-Hungarian submarines. It was an activity that violated Spanish neutrality in the conflict. To nip it in the bud, he demanded that the Romanones government retain Cabrera. In 1920, at the request of the Palma authorities, the Ministry of War leased the archipelago for agricultural and livestock exploitation.
"The German spies in the Colonia de Sant Jordi," Rigo points out, "used a typewriter called Enigma. It allowed them to encrypt messages sent via radio. Among the aid provided by Hitler to Franco were a certain number of these machines designed to protect the most sophisticated information." Once World War II began, Nazi spies also had other occupations. "From Mallorca, they obtained smuggled morphine that had been bought from the Allies. They sent it to the front to alleviate the pain of the wounded." Part of this world of spies can be followed in the book published in 1992 by historian Miquel Duran entitled Sicut ocule. A time gone by that was no better. Vigilantes y vigilados en la Mallorca de la posteguerra 1941-1945 (Miquel Font Editor).
![Mapa elaborat pel geògraf Gabriel Alomar Garau.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 9"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Fishermen in Colonia de Sant Jordi at the beginning of the 20th century.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
