The capital being transferred from Ciutadella to Mahón

Among all the many decisions that Governor Kane had to make in the XVIII century probably the most controversial was that of transferring the capital, and the main institutions, from Ciutadella to Port Mahon. We have already mentioned the dare rivalry between both cities, probably originated at the time of the assault of Ciutadella by the Turks. Again a foreign power, this time the United Kingdom, had to open up the old wound.

Ciutadella had been the capital since the Christian conquest of Minorca, in the XIII century. As a result, the nobility built their palaces within the walls of this city, as we can still witness nowadays. Latter on in 1795 when the Diocese of Menorca was restored, Ciutadella biggest church (St. Mary) would became Menorca’s Cathedral. Therefore, the traditional powers of the old regime were located in Ciutadella. But in the XVIII century, Port Mahon had gained a topmost importance, both from a strategic as well as an economic standpoint.

From the time of governor Kane up to date the question of the capital has been raised in many occasions. With the restoration of democracy in 1978, Menorca was granted a certain degree of autonomy that resulted in a new institution: the Consell Insular, (the Island Council) or the local government. The question about the capital arose again. The councillors, this time in a narrow vote, decided to keep the capital in Mahon.

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