History and culture

Today, Sineu is a municipality that encompasses a single locality, although in the past its extension also included the current territories of the neighboring municipalities of Sant Joan and Lloret de Vistalegre.

The etymology of its name has been the subject of debate, since in documents from the year 1200 it appears with four variants: Sixneu, Xisneu, Sisneu and Xineu. Miquel Barceló, a local scholar of Arabic culture, proposed an interesting connection: the name Sineu could derive from the Arabic Jijnau, which was the name of an ancient administrative district in Islamic Mallorca.

Regardless of its origin, after the conquest of the island in 1229, it was the Catalans who changed the Arabic name of the town. Sineu, under the Catalan kingdom, acquired the status of a royal villa, marking a significant change in the region.

For the last 800 years, Sineu has remained unchanged, witnessing the passing of the centuries. Only the plague of 1652 managed to disturb the tranquility of the town; the houses of Binitaref were converted into a lazaretto and its vineyards, in the cemetery of the city.

Since then, little has changed. Even tourism seems not to have altered the peaceful life of the inhabitants of this small village, strategically located in the center of the island, watching and observing everything that happens in the Pla de Mallorca.