The French pressure on the Balearic islands during the reign of Charles II of Spain, 1673-1689

In this work there have been analyzed the motives that drove Louis XIV of France to be interested for the islands Balearics. The aggressive French policy in the Mediterranean was a consequence of the own weakness of the Spanish fleet, unable to face him possibilities of success. The above mentioned situation drove to his inefficiency, since they could not risk a few irreplaceable ships. In addition, the fortifications of the islands Balearics were not in the best defensive conditions, the exception would be Ibiza, lacking all of them troops and artillery. It explains the constant presence of the French fleet in those seas, worrying especially Minorca and Ibiza; a situation that only the snap of the War of Nine Years (1689-1697) and the arrival of an allied Anglo-Dutch fleet could save from a more serious French attempt for getting hold of them.