The Battle of Majorca, known as the Majorca Landings (in Spanish optimistically called the Reconquista de Mallorca, "Reconquest of Majorca" by the Republicans) was an amphibious landing early in the Spanish Civil War aimed at driving the Nationalists from Majorca and reclaiming the island for the Republic. After some initial tactical success, the expedition, commanded by Captain Alberto Bayo, ended in failure when the Nationalists counterattacked...
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The Battle of Majorca, known as the Majorca Landings (in Spanish optimistically called the Reconquista de Mallorca, "Reconquest of Majorca" by the Republicans) was an amphibious landing early in the Spanish Civil War aimed at driving the Nationalists from Majorca and reclaiming the island for the Republic. After some initial tactical success, the expedition, commanded by Captain Alberto Bayo, ended in failure when the Nationalists counterattacked with ground troops and massively superior air power and drove the Republicans into the sea.
Plans for a seaborne attack on the Balearic Islands seem to have surfaced independently in various Republican militia groups in the days following the joining of Ibiza, Formentera, and Majorca to Franco's Nationalist military rebellion. Already on July 23 bomber squadrons struck Palma and Cabrera, and on August 1, a Republican expeditionary force from Minorca landed at Cabrera and resisted all efforts to dislodge it.
These actions, however, and in...
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