Page "History of Spain" Paragraph 75

Barbary pirates from North Africa became an increasing problem.

The coastal villages of Spain and of the Balearic Islands were frequently attacked.

Formentera was even temporarily left by its population.

This occurred also along long stretches of the Spanish and Italian coasts, a relatively short distance across a calm sea from the pirates in their North African lairs.

The most famous corsair was the Turkish Barbarossa (" Redbeard ").

According to Robert Davis between 1 million and 1. 25 million Europeans were captured by North African pirates and sold as slaves in North Africa and Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 19th centuries.

This was gradually alleviated as Spain and other Christian powers began to check Muslim naval dominance in the Mediterranean after the 1571 victory at Lepanto, but it would be a scourge that continued to afflict the country even in the next century.