Founded in 1920, its first men's team currently plays in Segunda Federación, the fourth tier of Spanish football, hosting games at the Estadi Balear with a capacity of 6,000 seats.

Its origins are related to the working class of Palma, and already in the 1920s, Atlético Baleares became the main rival of RCD Mallorca, the island's most successful club.

[4] This rivalry, commonly dubbed the Palma derby, has stayed alive until the present, despite the low number of direct confrontations during the last decades.

The colours refer to the logo of Isleña Marítima, the employer of the founding members of Mecánico FC, one of the clubs from which Atlético Baleares was born.

[8][page needed] Currently, he handed the rights to the mascot to the Atlético Baleares Foundation, which is responsible for administrating and managing its image.

That is why many still trace the origin of the club back to 1942, even though it has been proven and widely accepted that 1920 is the actual foundational year of Atlético Baleares.

The team lacked a field and played on an esplanade at the Moll de Palma, very close to the former offices of Isleña Marítima.

Mallorca FC had its club house in café Can Meca (Carrer Arxiduc Lluís Salvador, at cornering the Avingudes) in Palma and Carbonell played its games in a field called sa Síquia Reial, located between Avinguda del Comte de Sallent and Carrer Blanquerna in the same city.

[11][21] The new club debuted on 21 November 1920, winning 5–0 in the Tirador velodrome against Veloz Sport Balear, which was one of the most potent teams at the time.

[22] In 1921, Baleares played its first major tournament: the Copa Ayuntamiento, organized by the Municipality of Palma, and finished second behind RS Alfonso XIII FC (currently known as RCD Mallorca).

[24][25] Due to the growth of the club, Baleares moved to the Son Canals Stadium, which opened in 1923 and remained its home for decades.

Baleares was always in the front line of the competition: it finished as runner-up of the Mallorcan Championship on nine occasions, only surpassed by RS Alfonso XIII FC or CE Constància from Inca.

[11] In other competitions, one of the highlights of Baleares was the triumph in the President of the Republic Cup, a tournament played by the top-tier teams of the Mallorcan Championship during the 1933–34, 1934–35, and 1935–36 seasons, with a trophy in dispute awarded by the then-president Niceto Alcalá Zamora.

During those years, the league results of Atlético Baleares were mediocre, with the exception of the third place achieved in the 1945–46 and 1946–47 seasons, which gave them access to the playoffs for promotion to Segunda División for the first time.

In the third division, the team achieved strong results, was league champion in 1955–56, and participated in the playoffs for promotion in 1956, 1957, and 1958, but without returning to the second tier.

[41][42] Despite this relegation, Atlético Baleares maintained its considerable potential, given that it consistently finished in the top positions and qualified for the promotion playoffs in 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1968, without success.

But that season, Atlético Baleares finished bottom of the league and returned to the Tercera División (the new fourth tier), in which it repeated poor classifications.

The last editions of the Palma derby in the 20th century include numerous friendlies in the Nicolau Brondo Trophy and a match in the 1986–87 Copa del Rey.

Atlético Baleares moved to the nearby Germans Escales complex and suffered an inevitable relegation to the Regional Preferente.

[58] Another highlight of the season occurred on an institutional level, with the beginning of the club's transformation into a public limited sports company (SAD).

On 5 May 2011, an extraordinary assembly of members approved the conversion of Atlético Baleares into a SAD by a vast majority, with the aim of lifting the club to the Segunda División on short term.

[66] The team disputed the play-off with CD Mirandés for direct promotion but lost the tie (1–0 in Miranda de Ebro and 1–2 in Palma) and entered the second round.

[67][68] In 2012–13, Atlético Baleares would continue to strive to reach the Segunda División, but the team played a mediocre season and barely escaped relegation, after which the directors left the club.

The institutional crisis, the departure of the main investors, and the decline in the league table forced Atlético Baleares to reduce its objective, which was to maintain the category.

[70] After the main shareholders of Atlético Baleares left the club in 2013, it entered an institutional and economic crisis that even led to its judicial intervention.

[73] By June 2014, the club came under the control of Ingo Volckmann, a German businessman based in Mallorca, after he acquired 51% of the shareholding package.

In 2014–15 and 2015–16, with the institutional crisis already resolved and the survival of the club guaranteed, Atlético Baleares finished mid-table without approaching the playoffs.

[80] The main act was a historical exhibition in CaixaForum Palma with a collection of photographs, objects, and trophies of Atlético Baleares, as well as references to the origin of the club in 1920.

[89] The team disputed the play-off against Racing de Santander, with direct promotion at stake, but lost (0–0 in El Sardinero and 1–1 in Son Malferit) and was forced to play the second round.

[97] Atlético Baleares had finished first in the regular league and played the play-off against FC Cartagena, another group champion, in a single match with direct promotion at stake.