History

Es Castell

History

Historical review of Villacarlos

The sun of the current territory of the kingdom of Spain rises through this town. Villacarlos is the easternmost town of the entire Spanish territory, which is why it is the first town to see the sun rise in Spain. Furthermore, right at the extreme east, and next to the coast of the municipal district, a recent development bears the name of "Sol del Este."

With many years of history and some changes that transformed, moved, and even changed its name, Villacarlos was born as a suburb attached to the fortress-castle of San Felipe, whose remains are located somewhat higher up, in the direction of the entrance to the port of Mahón. But the very fact of its proximity to the castle marked its trajectory, since when the English conquered Menorca, they placed the settlement between two coves, Cales Fons and Cala Corb, surely because the two coves gave the chosen land greater difficulty to be attacked. The English crown, upon moving the residents of the suburb next to the castle, structured it in a grid-like fashion as if it were a military structure, giving it the name Georgetown, baptized in honor of King George III, King of England at the time of the conquest of Menorca.

During the reconquest of Menorca by the troops loyal to King Carlos III, it was renamed Real Villa de San Carlos, popularly Villa Carlos, a name it had until the end of the Francoist dictatorship. However, democracy and the implementation of autonomies brought linguistic normalization, and the name was changed to the more primitive and Menorcan Villacarlos, as a clear reference to the hamlet attached to the castle. It is geographically located on the southern margin and at the mouth of the port of Mahón.