Sineu, Mallorca, Things to do and see, hotels, market

From the Talayotic period (1,100 – 300 BC), the talayotic constructions of Creixell, Sa Ritxola, Son Rossinyol, Son Ven-rell, Son Alcaines, Puig de Sa Creu and the necropolis of Serral des Moro (Son Estela) stand out as the best examples of settlements from this time.

From the Islamic time, the area was part of a bigger district known as “Yiynau-Bitra” which also comprised the current municipalities of Petra, Ariany, Lloret de Vistalegre, Sant Joan and Vilafranca de Bonany. The Berber Moors lived in farms and little country houses mostly scattered all over the Yiynau-Bitra district, which at the time of the Catalan conquest in 1229/32 counted for 82. The biggest farm with lands was the one of Alhoffra al-Djawfiya, while the most interesting and significant for the Moorish period was the one of Adefla Exarquia, today referred to as “Delfa”. Unlike many other Moorish settlements on the island, there was actually a small urban nucleus of houses or huts where the current town of Sineu is found today, as well as a necropolis, baths a mosque and an alcàsser (Arabian medieval palace) which belonged to the Emir, Mubashshir Nasir Al-Dawla.

Post the Catalan conquest of Mallorca (1229-1232), the king distributed the lands of Mallorca between lords, knights, counts and bishops who either participated or supported the conquest, however, this area corresponded to the king himself. Sineu was conquered in the period between 1229 and 1230, without much resistance from the Moors. In the book called “Llibre de Repartiment” (Book of Distribution), all areas of Mallorca was carefully described and renamed according to the Catalan language. In 1237, this place was referred to as “Sixneu”.

The new Christian settlers soon destroyed the Moorish mosque and replaced it with the first parish church of Santa Maria de Sineu. At this time, the parish also included Sant Joan and Llorit, later Lloret de Vistalegre, which segregated in 1295 and 1298 respectively. The parish church was founded in 1236 by Ferrer de Pallerè, Archdeacon of Tarragona, and mentioned in the papal bulletin of Pope Innocenci IV in 1248.

In the beginning of the 14th century, the road between Palma and Sineu is mentioned as the most important connection in Mallorca for multiple reasons. In 1309, King Jaume II of Mallorca had the royal palace constructed on top of the former Arab palace, a place the king often spent time. From this time, the king also created a set of ordinances in order to establish and define the villages of Mallorca, which basically meant that any nucleus with at least 100 inhabitants or houses would be given the right to have a trade market, Sineu was one of these. In 1319, King Sanç appointed the first “Veguer de Forà”, a criminal judge and royal representative of the rural areas (the Part Forana). This person usually resided in the royal palace, as well as held meetings with the Great and General Council and the Sindicat de Forà which represented the areas of Part Forana.

Sineu also had 2-3 counselors in the Great and General Council, which was the highest political authority as the kingdom did not yet have any courts. The Great and General Council was founded in 1249 and came of the Catalan municipal councils, but was abolished in 1718 due to the governmental changes of Philip V.

However, the political references were not the only thing that made Sineu an important area in the 14th century, also the extensive production of wheat stood out from other areas of the island. At the town hall, you can see the old bronze tapered “barcella de Sineu”, a container and measurement tool used for weighing cereals and grains which dates back from the 13th century.

In 1318, King Sanç established the traditional spring fair in Sineu, the oldest of its kind in Mallorca.

In 1521, a twin society came to arise in Mallorca known as “La Germania”, a movement adopted from Valencia. La Germania was essentially a continuation of a conflict between the nobility and peasants back from the middle of the 15th century known as “Revolta Forana”, which came from corruption scandals that allowed the nobility to have paper on most lands of Mallorca leaving the small peasants and landowners with almost nothing and no influence, which basically meant that the nobility could charge massive rents and tax loads. The Germania started diplomatically trying a political approach, but soon turned to violence occupying Palma and started murdering high standing people. The governor of Mallorca, Miguel de Gurrea, fled to Ibiza while the remaining part of the nobility that fled from Palma took shelter within the walls of Alcúdia, the only town that remained faithful to the monarch and which the Germania could never take. Sineu, however, was taken under control of La Germania in the years between 1521 and 1522 and many people from Sineu participated in the revolt. In the late 1522, the king sent his royal troops to Alcúdia to put a stop to La Germania, which ended with a surrender in 1523 in Palma. The surrender to the king’s troops meant execution of more than 100 men from Sineu, including the notary Joan Gili, of Can Gili, who acted as spokesman for the La Germania whom was executed in Castell de Bellver. The consequences of the war was a great recession leaving Sineu with high fines and increased taxes.

In 1583, the former royal palace of Sineu was converted into a convent on concession of King Philip II.

In the middle of the 17th century, the bubonic plague was at its highest causing hundreds of deaths in Sineu. The inn of Son Joan Arnau was used as a quarantine site, and the farm and lands of Binitaref was converted into a hospital and cemetery.

The beginning of the 18th century brought a new municipal system to Sineu as a consequence of the War of the Spanish Succession. The Great and General Council disappeared and a town hall made up of a mayor and four counselors was instituted.

The Peninsula War (1807-1814), which led to the Constitution of Càdiz in 1812, left Spain in a chaotic condition with economic stagnation, political instability and social turbulence. Even though Sineu did not take part in the war, the consequences were felt with extra taxes and donations to help reestablish Spain.

During the Liberal Triennium between 1820 and 1823, a confiscation of all religious monastics with less than 12 nuns or monks was a reality. The convent of Minims in Sineu was one of those affected. The Minims did return, but only for a short time because in 1833 the First Carlist War broke out in Spain and prime minister, Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, confiscated all monastic properties and auctioned them to private investors in order to raise money to support Queen Isabel II. In 1877, the town hall of Sineu purchased the convent.

From the beginning of the 20th century, Sineu saw an increase in extraction of raw materials due to the opening of several mines and stone quarries which enhanced the economy remarkably. Today, the economy is still mainly centered around agricultural activities such as wheat, cereals, livestock, almonds etc., all products of the dry plain lands of the Pla region.

The origin of the name is quite uncertain, as numerous theories by several etymologists has been suggested. The name of the area first appeared in the 13th century after the Catalan conquest of Mallorca where four different spellings of the name was seen; Sixneu, Xisneu, Sisneu, and Xineu. With this many different spellings it has been difficult to figure out exactly from where the Catalan conquerors got the name. The first commonly believed theory was one that suggested that the place name derived from the Latin “Gium” as in Cinium, which could have been the name of a Roman village. This theory was, however, later discarded as the Arabist, Miquel Barceló, tried to interpret the place name of “Yiynau”, part of the district name from the Moorish period called “Yiynau-Bitra”. His theory was that this name could derive from the Arab word “J.jnu”, which again could come from the Berber word “Ignawen” meaning “Mule”. The word “Yiynau” or “Jijnau” is found several times in places around the area which supports the theory that this is the word that was translated to the Catalan “Xisneu” or “Sixneu”.