The barracks of the Arrabal del Castillo de San Felipe in the municipality of Es Castell

Francisco Fornals Villalonga (Mahón, June 8, 1924 – September 26, 2018) was a Menorcan soldier and specialist in the history of Menorcan fortifications. His facet as a scholar and specialist in fortifications and military issues on the island of Menorca is complemented by the publication of more than fifty articles in different newspapers and magazines, as well as the edition of various publications at the Museu Militar de Menorca.

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In the month of September of the year 2002, Francisco Fornals offered a magisterial conference on “The barracks of the Arrabal”. In this article we echo a brief part of said exhibition (at the end of the article we attach a link to the complete conference):

“Since there were King’s troops in Menorca, that is, the Permanent Army, the main problem was their accommodation, until they had barracks.

When the castle of San Felipe was completed at the end of the 16th century, the Spanish garrison infantry company provided accommodation for the troops.

In English times, due to its numerous garrison, the accommodation was not resolved until the last third of the 18th century, since the expansion of the castle carried out by the English did not mean the construction of more accommodation for the troops inside.

The problem was posed in Spanish times in reduced terms, because the number of soldiers was smaller and before the San Felipe castle was finished they did not have their own barracks, for this reason they lived in private houses – where they had the right to “salt and seat at the fire”.

The Universities – as the Town Halls were called – were obliged to house the soldiers. In principle, and we are talking about the 16th century, the danger was so immediate when the Berbers landed on the island too frequently, that the presence of soldiers in the citizen’s homes was more a guarantee of security than a nuisance.
Later, when the numerous British soldiers could not fit in the barracks inside the castle, they had to occupy the houses again. Circumstances had changed, although the Barbary danger now did not exist, the presence of British soldiers was extremely annoying because of the Anglican religion they professed. The Menorcans had very bad times until the English built the barracks…”

Conference link:

https://patrimoniomm.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/conferencia-cuarteles-arrabal-sr-fornals.pdf