:::MANIFESTO FOR THE 700th ANNIVERSARY OF THE TOWN OF ALAIOR::::
 

This year (2004) marks the 700th anniversary of the town of Alaior as a community and a structured social group set round a church, based on the typical medieval urban model of winding streets grouped around a religious building.


It was in 1304 that King Jaume II of Majorca founded the town of Alaior. He wanted to colonise land he had conquered nearly twenty years earlier, and to found a town between Maó and Ciutadella after the purchase of an estate known as Ihalor, from which the town took its name.


The name of Ihalor changed over the centuries, undergoing a series of phonetic changes and taking different written forms until it became the name we know today.


The precursor of the present municipal administration was the Universitat, the right to a public administration awarded to Alaior in 1439 under the judgement issued by Galceran de Requesens on the municipal ordinance of Minorca.


In 1926, by a Royal Decree of 20 July, Alaior’s status was raised from town to city.


Alaior, the third-largest town of Minorca, is currently a craft-based, industrial and services community of 8000 inhabitants with a municipal area of 107.20 kilometres.


Now we have reached the 21st century, all members of the Town Council agree that the 700 years of Alaior’s existence as a community merit commemoration. This will take the form of a series of cultural and social events, but more importantly, of a declaration of principles that reinforces the solemnity of the event.
 



The political groups represented on the Ajuntament (Town Council) - PSOE, PP and EM-IA - DECLARE that the celebration of the 700th anniversary of Alaior mustr:

Reaffirm the nature of the town of Alaior, the outcome of a historical event and later occurrences.

Transmit an awareness of the town’s history to the younger generations.

Create mechanisms for a cultural and national sense of belonging to a particular community.

Help to extend and strengthen the elements of social and cultural cohesion and integration of our present-day society

Be the point of departure for projecting the city, the people, the society that we aspire to build in the near future

Recall, strengthen and project the values of Alaior society: business enterprise, creativity, capacity for integration and social cohesion, dialogue and tolerance.

Be a commitment to more respect, greater love and a fiercer defence of our historical and cultural heritage, one of the age-old components of our society.

In short, it must remind of Alaior of what lies ahead and of its history, to help it build its future.