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ultivated in the Tramuntana Mountains, the olive tree shapes the Mallorcan landscape and gives it a unique identity, the result of the union between majestic nature, where the mountain peaks at over 1000 metres, and human labour, which over the centuries painstakingly created irrigation canals, terraces, and stone paths. To be convinced, one only needs to walk in the Sierra de Tramuntana towards the Barranc de Biniaraix or on the Muleta path (GR 221) connecting Soller to Deia, or admire the Can Det olive tree, elected Spain's Best Monumental Olive Tree. This tree, with its massive trunk, bears witness to its long life, having been planted in the 9th century by the Moors. At that time, the olive tree, brought by the Phoenicians, had acclimated to the island. When the Moors settled in Mallorca, they brought with them apricots, eggplants and artichokes, and developed subsistence agriculture. Each village sought self-sufficiency and cultivated cereals, vegetables, grapes, and olives. Skillful and ingenious, the Moors developed an irrigation system still visible in the Tramuntana. To prevent water from flowing away and causing erosion, they built terraces on the mountainsides.
In the 13th century, King Jaume I completed the reconquest of the island. He enslaved the Moors and "specialised" the island in the cultivation of olives, cereals, and vines. Olive oil particularly interested the young King of Majorca as its trade was booming: in the 13th century, people even used olive oil for lighting.
Jaume transformed the Tramuntana into an industrial domain. He had 20,000 km of dry stone terraces built, used the irrigation systems developed by the Moors, and grafted wild olive trees with productive varieties. The trade flourished, and the olive groves became gold mines. The soap industry, which developed in Marseille, required tons of olive oil: 12,000 quintals left the ports of Palma or Soller for the city at the end of the 18th century.
