Real Club Deportivo Mallorca was founded on 5 March 1916 in Palma, on the island of Mallorca in Spain's Balearic Islands. Originally registered as Alfonso XIII Foot-Ball Club, the club earned royal patronage within its first year and was later renamed Club Deportivo Mallorca during the Second Spanish Republic before eventually reclaiming the "Real" prefix in the late 1940s.
The club's proudest era arrived in the late 1990s and early 2000s under manager Héctor Cúper and then Luis Aragonés. Mallorca finished third in La Liga in both 1998–99 and 2000–01 — the best league positions in their history — and claimed the 1998 Supercopa de España. That same period saw them reach the final of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, losing 2–1 to Lazio at Villa Park in the tournament's last-ever final. The club's sole Copa del Rey title came in 2003, when they defeated Recreativo de Huelva 3–0, with goals from Walter Pandiani and a young Samuel Eto'o.
The following decade brought significant turbulence. Mallorca were relegated from La Liga in 2013 and at one point dropped as far as the fourth tier, before a change of ownership in 2016 helped stabilise the club. A series of promotions returned them to La Liga, where they have competed in the 2020s, including a Copa del Rey final appearance in 2024.
Playing in red shirts with black shorts at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix — a 23,142-capacity stadium in Palma — Mallorca represent the spirit of their sun-drenched island home, a club that has consistently punched above its weight on the Spanish and European stage.