During the 16th century the defence and protection of the castle fell to the Gabellins until, from 1375 at the orders of the governor, the guard duty was shared with the inhabitants of Capdepera and a number of men from Arta. Despite the governor’s insistence, the Gabellins preferred to live in the village even though they had to return to the castle to spend the night. In the 18th century, with the establishment of the Bourbons in Spain, there was a political and military restructuring. As a result, a permanent army under the orders of professional soldiers came to the castle and took charge of the defence and watch of the coast and inland areas. The cost of the defence was borne by the royal household. At that time the governor was in the military and the soldiers were known as ‘dragoons’. Almost the entire population lived outside the site as the castle was used as a military barracks.
The first floor of the Governor´s Residence currently houses the Llata Museum (Llata is a kind of palm leaf).
It is a permanent display of the municipality’s tradition of working with these dried palm leaves. It shows and explains the craftwork activity and commercialisation from the harvest, to the drying and the bleaching of the leaves (Chamaerops humilis) on to the braiding of the same and then the manufacture of numerous articles such as baskets both large and small, deep and shallow as well as brooms and so on. These hand-crafted objects are known as ‘palm work’ and for a good part of the 20th century they stood out as a major part of the economy and a unique characteristic of our municipality.