By Rafe Calder
The sole used to be a tyre. That is the detail people remember about the Menorcan sandal, and it is a good example of how a practical fix becomes a signature.
Wikipedia calls the avarca a traditional sandal of Menorca, popular across the Balearic Islands and especially on Menorca, also known as the Menorcan sandal. It describes a leather upper and a rubber sole. Originally the soles were made from recycled car tyres. Modern versions use a purpose-made mould that is styled like a tyre tread but lighter and more durable. The article also says the avarca is both a traditional shoe and a popular Spanish sandal brand, which is a tension we will come back to.
The island
Menorca covers 695.8 square kilometres and had 102,477 residents in January 2025, according to Wikipedia. Its highest point is Monte Toro, at 357 metres. UNESCO designated the island a biosphere reserve in October 1993. Mahón has been the capital since 1722, and Ciutadella was the ancient capital until then. Ciutadella had 32,431 residents in 2025, and Wikipedia gives its area as 186.34 square kilometres.
The island’s history is long and layered. Wikipedia dates Catalan-Aragonese conquest under Alfonso III to 17 January 1287, a date now celebrated as Menorca’s national day. Britain controlled the island in 1708 to 1756, 1763 to 1782 and 1798 to 1802, and the capital was moved to Mahón to use its harbour for the Royal Navy. The island also has megalithic monuments, navetes, taules and talaiots, which point to very early human activity. Ciutadella’s own article dates the earliest human activity there to about 2000 BC.
An origin story, with a warning
A blog post about the history of Menorcan sandals offers the legend that the Slingers of the Balearic Islands wore early leather sandals around 460 BC while fighting the Romans. It adds that when Alfonso III conquered Menorca in the thirteenth century, the sandal’s use spread across the island. These are one blogger’s lines, and we have not found a second source for either, so treat them as a story and not a record.
The better-documented part is the materials. A Menorcan maker’s page says the avarca was originally used in the countryside because it was strong and adaptable, ideal for all kinds of rural work. It describes the earliest versions as leather from animals, because leather was available and cheap, with the original brown colour from pigskin or ox leather. Later, it says, old tyres were used for soles because they lasted a long time. The blogger agrees on the tyres, and says that with the arrival of cars on the island, shoemakers began reinforcing soles with recycled tyre rubber, which extended a sole’s life to about a year and suited farm work. We have no date for the switch from either source.
What makers use now
The maker’s page says bovine skin remains standard, and that makers now also work with cloth-like material, braided raffia and rubber soles. It says its production begins at size 16, with smaller sizes using a lightweight microporous sole. These are one company’s statements about its own range, and we have not checked them against another maker.
A label that says where
Wikipedia says only original manufacturers receive the Avarca de Menorca label, that it is granted by the local government, and that it guarantees minimum quality standards and that the sandals are really made on Menorca. The maker’s page says the label was created by the local council in collaboration with the Menorcan footwear industry association, that only authorised companies may use it, that a commission oversees compliance, and that the regulations were agreed and signed by the local government in 2010. It says the label distinguishes locally made avarcas and protects against imitators.
How many companies may use it is told differently. The blogger says only five manufacturers are authorised to produce and stamp the label, and that the local government grants it to protect traditional makers against large companies. We have not seen the register, and we have not confirmed the number, so we are not giving one.
Tradition and brand
Wikipedia’s note that the avarca is both a traditional shoe and a brand is worth holding on to. A label that says Made in Menorca tells you about place. It does not tell you the design is old, or that the maker is small, or that the sole is rubber or leather. Ask about each.
How to read a pair
Look for the label and ask what it covers. Ask what the upper is made of, and what the sole is. Ask where the leather comes from. The sources do not say whether the label covers that, so we cannot tell you, and the maker is the right person to ask.
We found nothing about fit or how to break a pair in, so ask.
A cousin in the north
Wikipedia’s avarca article points readers to the abarka, a similar sandal from the Basque Country. We have not read the abarka article beyond that reference, and the label discussed here is described only in terms of Menorca.
What this piece cannot tell you
We have no date for the switch to tyre soles, no confirmed count of authorised makers and no source on which stages of the work happen inside the label’s rules. Those are three good questions for a maker, and a short answer to any of them is still an answer.
Where to go
Ciutadella and Mahón are the two main towns, and either is a fair base. We have not confirmed which makers accept visitors or when, and we are not naming one. If you want to see where avarcas are made, ask at a tourist office on the island.
Roam first. Shop later.