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The history of Esporles begins in 1229 when the Catalan troops conquered the Muslim city of Medina Mayurqa. After the conquest the island was divided and Esporles was given to the Knight Nuno Sanç, who died without issue. Esporles came under the rule of the King.
The mayoralty of Esporles governed the valleys of Banyalbufar, Superna, Bunyolí and Esporles. The population settled around the parish church at the end of the 13th century in what is traditionally known as the Old Town.
Esporles shared administration with Banyalbufar until the mid 19th century, even though the dispute between the two towns to decide which town held the Town Hall caused many problems during centuries.
The municipal system was dominated by a council of great men: the royal mayor, the juries, the councillors and the “Clavari”.
The church played its traditional key role and was the centre of the town’s life. The first church of Esporles is mentioned in documents dating from 1248. It was a simple, primitive Gothic building and it probably had just one nave. In the 16th century it had three altars. The altars of Virgen María del Rosal and of Sant Antoni were the most oustanding ones. The second church was built in 1720 by the rector Joan B. Vanrell. The construction of the current church started in 1904 and it was blessed in 1923. It was based on a project by the architect Gaspar Bennassar. It has a Neogothic style, by which the architect tried to pay hommage to the Cathedral, the Lonja and the Church of Santa Eulalia. The Parish of Esporles was formed by three churches: Banyalbufar, S’ Esgleieta and Establiments.
The people of Esporles took part both in the Rural uprising of 1420 and the “Germanies” uprising of 1520. Both uprisings resulted in the looting of several estates that were owned by citizens of Palma.
Agriculture was the main economic activity during the Medieval and Modern periods.
In the second half of the 19th century the social and economic structure of the town began to change due to the emergence of an incipient textile industry.
The textile industry of Esporles became a leading industry on the island. It disappeared in the early 1960s.
Industrialization largely favoured the organization of the workers’ movement, which led to the formation of Republican groups first and Socialist groups later. The political clash between the conservative and progressive forces was evident during the Second Republic and the Civil War. Esporles was one of the few towns to put up resistance to the uprising against the Republic.
The consequences of the war were more severe in Esporles due to the importance of the workers’ movement in the municipality.
The centre-rightwing parties won the first elections in 1977 after the restoration of democracy; they held the power until the General Elections of 1982, which was won by the Left. From then until 1991 there was a clear predominance of the Socialist Party. In 1991 the left became divided and there was an important increase of the conservative vote. As a result, Jaume Pou Reynés (PP) has been Mayor since 1996.
Esporles: from the Latin sportulis, meaning “basket”. It seems that the name was the result of the establishment of European palm basketwork workshops in the area.
S’Esgleieta: it is derived from the old diminutive “esgleya”, meaning “church”.
The municipality is located in the western part of the island and occupies part of the southern side of the Tramuntana Mountains. It has borders with the municipalities of Valldemossa, Palma, Banyalbufar and Puigpunyent. It has a total area of 35.73 sq km. Esporles had 4,372 inhabitants in 2004, which means a population density of 122.36 inhabitants/sq km.
It is formed by the towns of Esporles and S’Esgleieta and the housing areas of Ses Rotgetes de Canet and Es Verger.
The village of Esporles is situated at the bottom of the valley and has a total area of 90.4 sq Km.
The landscape of the Esporles valley is mainly mountainous. The highest point of the municipality is the eastern face of Mola de Planícia (890 m) in the western part of Esporles. The lowest point is the stream of Esporles (100 m) on the east. The stream gathers almost all the rain water of the municipality.
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