A million Europeans were enslaved by Barbary pirates – and no one is seeking reparations for that

Calls from Commonwealth leaders for the UK to pay reparations for slavery should be rejected On the Costa Blanca in Spain last week, we visited one of the well-preserved lookout towers and castles dating back to the 16th century. These were established in the reign of King Philip II as protection against Barbary pirates, from the coast of North Africa, raiding Spanish communities. What these corsairs were after, primarily, were men, women and children who could be taken as slaves to be sold in the markets in Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. The legacy of the same period can still be seen today on the island of Majorca, where towns like Pollensa and Sóller were constructed miles from the coast, to protect the inhabitants from these piratical raids. These threats were not restricted to the Mediterranean. We have reports from the 1600s of villages in Ireland and south-west England being raided for slaves by North African pirates. Read More Watch-towers like this 16th-century one on Corsica were built across the Mediterranean to defend against raids by Barbary pirates (Picture: Pascal Pochard-Casabianca) | AFP via Getty Images Endemic in ancient world It has been estimated that raiders from Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli...