The Battle of Portopí (12 September 1229)[1] was an open field military conflict between the Almohad troops that occupied the island of Majorca and the Christian army led by King James I the Conqueror with the aim of annexing it to the Crown of Aragon in order to expand their domain and return it back to Christiandom.

After previous failed attempts to take control of the island, the army of James I managed to anchor in the Santa Ponsa bay on 10 September and deploy forces to begin the invasion.

After being informed in the evening that the Almohad governor of the island, Abu Yahya, had regrouped his troops, and they were making their way from the capital to meet the Christians, the Aragonese monarch gave the relevant warning instructions to his men in order to avoid a possible surprise enemy attack.

Historians such as Zurita[5] state that on the morning of Wednesday, 12 September, Guillermo de Montcada and his nephew Ramón on the one hand, and on the other Nuño Sánchez, argued over who would ride at the head of the army in the battle that they assumed was going to take place the next day.

Zurita adds that ultimately, on that same day and without waiting for Sánchez, the Montcadas led their men towards the enemy position, thus forcing the rest of the army to second them in action.

On Thursday 13th the camp was fortified with trenches, the navy that was in La Porrassa advanced to Portopí where they seized several Saracens vessels, and a portion of the fleet anchored off the city.

This monument stands at the location where, according to tradition, the two nobles died: along the kilometre 14 of the old road from Palma to Andrach, present day Paseo Calviá.

[13] The work, designed by Tomás Vila (1893–1963), was erected next to the aforementioned pine, and consists of a stone pedestal from Santanyí and a large Gothic cross.