Menorca’s beautiful beaches
How about traveling to a climate so moderate that natives went about most of their daily life in the nude, and only learned to wear clothes from sea traders? A place where once the inhabitants preferred to be paid for their labors with wine instead of coins? How about Menorca? The island is also known as Minorca, and its name derives from Minorica (“minor island”), one of the Spanish Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, taking its name because of its proximity to its larger neighboring island, Majorca.
Many people believe they’ve found their own personal Shangri-La, after checking into one of the luxury hotels menorca offers its visitors. The island boasts a population today of around 88,000. Over the centuries, it’s changed hands many times, from the Phoenicians to the Romans, and, eventually, to Spain.
If you’re not a beach lover, you have the option to explore the historical remains of many past cultures: tombs, ancient monuments, castles, old forts. The island has plenty of these things — hundreds of sites from different eras. Just outside Mahon, for instance, you’ll find Fort Marlborough, a British fort overseeing the harbor, containing mazes of caves and tunnels.
If you do like beaches, there’s everything from lengthy sandy ones at Son Bou to the more rugged beaches of Tortugas and Morella. You can reach most of them in tourist areas; however, a good many, smaller pristine ones are hidden. You’ll need a car for that. One island favorite is Cala Mitjaneta. Some beaches are harder to reach than others, because there aren’t any roads to them. That means long, hard walks, sometimes climbing very steep terrains. You have to be in shape for these trips! For some, going to Menorca can be a life-changing experience, where they find their own personal paradise.
A word of caution, though: Today, the islanders keep their clothes on, even though the temperature remains moderate enough to go without. It’s actually illegal to go naked as the ancient ancestors once did, although a few beaches still cater to the naturalist impulse, but you may have to search to find them!
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