The Italian occupation of Majorca lasted throughout the Spanish Civil War. Italy intervened in the war with the possible intention of annexing the Balearic Islands and Ceuta and creating a client state in Spain. The Italians sought to control the Balearic Islands because of their strategic position, from which they could disrupt lines of communication between France and its North African colonies, and between British Gibraltar and Malta. Italian flags were flown over the island. Italian forces dominated Majorca, with Italians openly manning the airfields at Alcúdia and Palma, as well as Italian warships being based in the harbour of Palma. However some historians -like Gilbeto Oneto and Rosaria Quartararo- expressed a criticism about this supposed Italian plan to annex Majorca.
History
Prior to all-out intervention by Italy, Benito Mussolini authorized "volunteers" to go to Spain, resulting in the seizure of the largest Balearic island of Majorca by a force under Fascist Blackshirt leader Arconovaldo Bonaccorsi. in Majorca Sent to Majorca to act as Italian proconsul in the Balearics, Bonaccorsi proclaimed that Italy would occupy the island in perpetuity and initiateda brutal reign of terror, arranging the murder of 3,000 people accused of being communists, and emptying Majorca's prisons by having all prisoners shot. In the aftermath of the Battle of Majorca, Bonaccorsi renamed the main street of Palma de MajorcaVia Roma, and adorned it with statues of Roman eagles. Bonaccorsi was later rewarded by Italy for his activity in Majorca. Italian forces launched air raids from Majorca against Republican-held cities on mainland Spain. Initially Mussolini only authorized a weak force of Italian bomber aircraft to be based in Majorca in 1936 to avoid antagonizing Britain and France. However the lack of resolve by the British and French to Italy's strategy in the region, encouraged Mussolini to deploy twelve more bombers to be stationed in Majorca, including one aircraft flown by his son, Bruno Mussolini. By January 1938, Mussolini had doubled the number of bombers stationed in the Balearics and increased bomber attacks on shipping headed to support Spanish Republican forces. The buildup of Italian bomber aircraft on the island's airfields and increased Italian air attacks on Republican-held ports and shipping headed to Republican ports was viewed by France as provocative. After Franco's victory in the civil war, and several days after Italy's conquest in the Balkans of Albania, Mussolini issued an order on April 11 or 12 1939, to withdraw all Italian forces from Spain. Mussolini issued this order in response to Germany's sudden action of invading Czechoslovakia in 1939, in which Mussolini was aggravated by Hitler's swift success and sought to prepare Italy to make similar conquests in Eastern Europe.
Criticism of supposed plan
The existence of a supposed Italian plan to annex Majorca has received harsh critics. Indeed, Gilberto Oneto, an Italian historian, wrote the following about Bonaccorsi and the Italians in Majorca: In Oneto's opinion, the Italians only supported the possibility of promoting a semi-independent Majorca in case of Republican victory in the Spanish civil war. But with Franco's victory, they understood that this project of "partial" independence was impossible.
