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Never before the nineteenth century had Europeans, especially in the south, adopted cordons sanitaires in such great numbers or at such a fast rate. This article aims to analyse the process of the rationalisation and militarisation of the cordons sanitaires imposed in the fight against epidemics during the nineteenth century on the Mediterranean island of Majorca (Spain). These cordons should be understood as a declaration of war by the authorities on emerging epidemics. Epidemics could generate sudden and intolerably high rises in mortality that the new liberal citizenship found unacceptable. Toleration of this type of measure was the result of a general consensus, with hardly any opposition, which not only obtained the support of scientists (especially in the field of medicine) but also of most of the local and provincial political elite, and even of the population at large.

At the end of the 19th century, social medicine promoted the use of quantification as a means to evaluate the health status of populations. In Majorca, hygienists such as the physicians Enric Fajarnés, Bernat Riera, Antoni Mayol and Emili Darder and the civil engineer Eusebi Estada sought a better understanding of health status by considering the population growth, the demographic and epidemiological profile and the influence of weather on mortality. These calculations showed that the Balearic population had a good health status in comparison to the population of mainland Spain, although less so in the international context. These results were explained by the benevolence of the insular climate, a factor that would also guarantee the success of the public health reforms proposed.