Cuartel General de la Comandancia General de Baleares

The history of the Commandancy-General of the Balearic Islands and its General Headquarters began with the choice of the Almudaina Palace as the headquarters of the Governor of Majorca in the year 1230, the first governor being Bernardo de Santa Eugenia, Lord of Torrella.

The years went by and in 1575 the title of Governor became Viceroy, the first being Miguel de Moncada y Bou.

During the 18^th century, the Captaincy-Generals were established as a system of territorial division in territories owned by Spain, a system that meant the end of the viceroyalty system, in force for centuries, for some of the territories that made up the empire.

On November 28^th, 1715, Philip V promulgated a “New Structure” (Nueva Planta) Decree for the Kingdom of Majorca, creating the position of Captain-General, the new highest authority in the Islands with greater powers than the Viceroy he replaced, representing the King in his territory and exercising supreme military authority both over the existing garrisons in the province and over the troops passing through them, responsible for public security, control over the Royal Treasury and exercising important control over other jurisdictions as well as over the existing population.

The Viceroys tended to belong to the first ranks of the nobility, while the Captains-General were defined by their military training and their professional devotion to the use of arms.

In 1931, the name changed again and the position was held by Major Generals, known as Military Commanders.

In 1939, the old name of Captains-General was reinstated and the position was initially held by Major Generals and later by Lieutenant Generals, until 1984.

Order 220/1997, of November 12^th, regulated the structure of the General Headquarters, the Force, the Support to the Force and the Territorial Organization of the Army. It established that the Land Force would be comprised of a Permanent Force, made up of the Maneuver Force, the Specific Forces for Joint Action and the Area Defense Forces, which constitute the core of the Land Force responsible for the immediate defense of the Military Zones in which it deploys, and forming part thereof, among others, the Commandancy-General of the Balearic Islands, which was divided into Headquarters and Armed Units.

Royal Decree 1338/1997, of August 1^st, updated the appointments of the General Commanders of the Region and Military Zone, corresponding to the Balearic Islands the title of Commander-General and General Commander of the Military Zone of the Balearic Islands. Royal Decree 416/2006, of April 11^th, regulated the organization and deployment of the Army Force. The Commandancy-General of the Balearic Islands is integrated into this recently created Land Force with a new structure—smaller than the previous one, but with the same missions and comprised of the General Headquarters and a Mixed Group, both in Palma de Mallorca. On January 1^st, 2008, as a consequence of General Regulation 05/07 of the Army General Staff (EME) on Organizational Adjustments for 2007, ULOG 71 was disbanded and the HQ Battalion was integrated into the HQ of the Commandancy-General, being reduced to a company-size HQ Unit.

As a consequence of General Regulation 04/09, which implements Resolution No. 02/2009, of March 26^th, of the Chief of Staff of the Army, which regulates the Organizational Adjustments of the Army for the year 2009, with administrative effects as of January 1^st, 2010, the Balearic Anti-Aircraft Artillery Unit is moved to Manises (Valencia), the Balearic Artillery Unit is integrated into the 81^st Artillery Regiment, and moved to the 14^th Engineers Unit from Palma de Mallorca to Saragossa, the 14^th Engineers Unit is integrated into the 22^nd Sappers Battalion and into the 12^th Pontoon and Engineering Specialties Regiment, in this order and priority, except for the Machinery Platoon of the 14^th UING, which is integrated into the COMGEBAL HQ, according to a message from GEFUTER with Ref. No. ST-01.02.040 No. 092159528198 of May 19^th, 2009: "Modification communicated resolution and General Regulation 04/09 of Adjustment".

At present, the Headquarters Commandancy is comprised of the Units detailed in the organization section.