Mallorca

"As for dogs, there are those used for herding and those for hunting, both very varied. Here, however, we shall only discuss those called “Ca de Bou” from Binissalem. They are large, beautiful carnivores, destined specifically to fight bulls or amongst themselves in dogfights (bregues de cans) held in enclosures (tancats) created ex profeso. The best are found in Binissalem, Alaró, Inca and Pollença. Dark brown in color, their coat seems striped in black, while their snouts tend to be dirty white. Their ears, without exception, are trimmed. Some have truly colossal heads and chests. They are highly appreciated, and the number of aficionados is enormous in the above-mentioned towns, even amongst the poor. There are areas, in contrast, where they are not at all valued, such as in Artà and Capdepera, where they are practically non-existent. They are extremely fierce animals that, on occasions, don’t even recognize their own master who will on more than one occasion have to turn to the quick procedure of introducing the dogs’ tails in their mouths if, having taken hold of a bull or another dog, they don’t obey the order to leg go. I have even been told that in the stables belonging to Catalina Villalonga, in Palma, one of these dogs would abandon the house at night and attack the mules, killing three to sate itself with blood. They are easily trained for personal defense. I myself was able to observe in Alaró how one of these animals, at its master’s minimal signal, jumped against another person which, nevertheless, desisted immediately upon the master’s second signal."

Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria. Las Baleares por la palabra y el grabado. Majorca: General Part. Ed. Sa Nostra, Caja de Baleares. Palma de Mallorca. 1982.