History of Vilafranca de Bonany

Ever since prehistoric times the area of Vilafranca has been occupied by humans. This is evidenced in more than 14 different archaeologic sites scattered around the municipality with the most interesting being the Pre-Talayotic site of Sa Moleta and the Talayotic sites of Castellot Vell and Son Pou Vell.

During the Moorish period between 902 and 1229/32, the area belonged to the district known as “Yiynau-Bitra” which also comprised the current municipalities of Sineu, Sant Joan, Lloret de Vistalegre, Petra and Ariany. The Moorish presence in the area is seen in the estates of Albadallet, Alcúdiarrom and in the well of Viguet, all still part of the cultural heritage of the area. Although not confirmed, it is likely that is was the Berber tribe of Zenata that occupied the areas these lands in this period.

Following the Catalan conquest of Mallorca in 1232, the Llibre de Repartiment de Mallorca (Book of Distribution of Mallorca) was written to declare the areas of the island and to whom they belonged. The king distributed all areas amongst counts, knights, lords bishops etc., people who had supported or participated in the campaign. Ramon de Castellbisbal came to own the estates and lands of Albadallet and Boscana, the knights of Lleida was granted Alcúdiarrom and Ramon Saclusa was given the lands of Alanzell, the lands of which the current village is located.

In 1242, Saclusa sold Lanzell to the Knights Templar who renamed it to Sant Martí de Lanzell, however, with the abrogation of this order in 1312 all of their properties went to the Knights Hospitallers. The king of Mallorca was not satisfied with this transfer as he saw these lands become under his ownership and led to a series of prosecutions. Eventually the king gained rights of the lands and granted them his treasurer, Sant Just. As of 1391, the lands fell in the hands of nobleman Arnau Sureda, whose descendants changed the name to Sureda de Sant Martí.

In 1620, the owner of Sureda de Sant Martí, Pau Sureda i Campfullós, obtained permission to expand his lands and include the lands of the Son Pere Jaume in order to establish a small community where his workers and servants could live. This allowed him have full jurisdiction of all people that lived within his property, thus the workers would not have to pay taxes or contributions to the country. This was how Vilafranca was born, as the name means “Free Town” (red. free of taxes). In 1633, the historian Joan Dameto mentioned the place as Vilafranca de Sant Martí.

In 1812, Vilafranca segregated from the parish of Petra, and on June 27, 1916, when the last successor of the Sureda family past away, the village was given the “de Bonany” ending in order to differentiate it from the two other municipalities in Spain with same name (Vilafranca, Castellon and Vilafranca del Penedès, Barcelona).

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the farmers of Vilafranca faced an increased and difficult competition in the market for cereals and wheat which had been the main source of income for centuries. The competition was simply too hard to ever give a sufficient trade margin. The farmers instead turned to cultivation of melons and extraction of clay from the ground, which opened a new market in Mallorca with high demand from the other municipalities.

Today, melons are still synonymous with Vilafranca de Bonany which occupies the majority of the lands. Other activities in the municipality include livestock such as sheep and production of construction materials.