Narrative photography contest on the Port of Maó

Views: 21

The Recuperem el Port de Maó campaign has launched a narrative photography contest with the aim of giving visibility to the environmental, social and heritage pressures that threaten the values still preserved in the natural harbour of Port of Maó.

The initiative has the collaboration of the Balearic Sea Conservation Audiovisual Contest MARE, and invites the public to look at the port with critical and sensitive eyes and to explain, through photography, the processes of transformation and deterioration affecting the bay. The contest does not seek only aesthetic images, but photographs capable of narrating a reality and generating reflection.

Continue reading Narrative photography contest on the Port of Maó →

‘If we are from a dry land’: 13/06/26

Views: 8

They say that when ants all set in motion, no one has given the order. It is not decided by the queen, as one might suppose, nor by the larger specimens, who usually act as soldiers. Nor is it decided by the worker ants, who carry out many different tasks. They decide to act when certain information has been verified and they clearly see that a joint response is needed.

The new action that has been scheduled for the evening of Saturday 13 June, within the Via Menorca campaign, incorporates the symbolism of ants. Fed up with seeing the setbacks the island is experiencing, the increasing threats and the empty speeches without content, the ants have decided to leave the anthill.

Continue reading ‘If we are from a dry land’: 13/06/26 →

Profitable devotion

Views: 3

The world is a combination of many viewpoints. Each person focuses on the part that seems most suggestive to them.

Some read the islets surrounding the main island as laboratories of evolution, where the original lizard has taken on its own colours and learned surprising survival strategies, but for others they are potential hunting grounds.

In the past, those who managed to kill one of the last specimens of the monk seal took photographs, proud of an achievement that today we interpret as testimony to the extinction of a spectacular species from our seas.

Cultures and geographies shape the way we see what surrounds us. There was a time when the habit of understanding life as an experience decided by an ethereal and external being began to give way to more empirical interpretations. In the end, it seems that we have chosen to replace the gods of the past with the economic religion.

Continue reading Profitable devotion →

‘Not even the cove, which was my world’: 13/06/26

Views: 4

The romantic failure sung about in la balada d’en Lucas (Lucas’s ballad) includes a lament for the loss of values and identity that tourism-driven development caused on the Costa Brava. It is a song sung with deep feeling in Menorca as well, a land that is also being harmed by the impact of mass tourism.

On Saturday, 13 June, a protest event is being organised against the direction the island has been taking in recent times. No one who wants a dignified future for Menorca should be missing.

Continue reading ‘Not even the cove, which was my world’: 13/06/26 →

Encouraging fires in natural areas

Views: 3

A new legislative amendment has been presented by the Partido Popular proposing changes to the Law on the Conservation of Environmentally Relevant Areas of the Balearic Islands (LECO). With the amendment to Article 52, deliberate fires of arboreal forest mass inside protected natural areas would no longer be considered an infringement.

As will be recalled, a few days ago the GOB made public parliamentary initiatives by the same political group to allow hunting on islets and other sites of high natural value. Now, some additional measures of particular gravity are being added. Eliminating or reducing sanctions for those who intentionally burn protected forests implies conveying to public opinion a highly dangerous sense of impunity.

Continue reading Encouraging fires in natural areas →

Roads with a second purpose

Views: 36

The construction of railways in North America was crucial to the colonisation of territories disputed with Indigenous tribes. The railway line that eventually connected east and west enabled the movement of goods, people and animals. It became one of the key elements in the transformation of those lands—a structural change that meant the definitive colonisation of Indigenous territories.

But there is no need to cross oceans to understand the relationship between infrastructure and its consequences for the places it connects. When land was still being subdivided in the countryside of Menorca, there was always some councillor pushing to pave rural roads in order to facilitate subsequent operations of parcelling and construction.

Continue reading Roads with a second purpose →

Pere Fraga: “The landscape around us is the best school of gardening”

Views: 6

We speak with Pere Fraga i Arguimbau, botanist and expert in the flora of Menorca. Fraga is one of the co-authors of the Manual de jardineria sostenible i amb planta autòctona, per a una illa com Menorca (Sustainable Gardening and Native Plants Manual for an island such as Menorca), the latest publication by GOB Menorca, recently presented in Maó, Ferreries, and Ciutadella, and one of the organization’s highlighted new releases this Sant Jordi. We take this opportunity to talk about the manual and to ask him for some basic recommendations on how to apply the principles of sustainable gardening to home gardens and terraces.

Continue reading Pere Fraga: “The landscape around us is the best school of gardening” →

Renewable energies (2): Zoning and energy sovereignty

Views: 8

This note is the second part of a reflection on the relationship between renewable energy and land use. It describes the situation in Menorca, which can be very different from other islands as well as from mainland Spain. For this reason, it is not appropriate to assume that what happens elsewhere is being replicated here, because that is not the case.

Over the past 20 years, several wind energy projects have been proposed in Menorca but have been halted for environmental reasons. At the same time, significant progress has been made in zoning suitable areas for photovoltaic energy, ensuring that spaces with environmental or landscape protection status are not considered suitable.

Anyone interested in understanding the differences and criteria applied in Menorca is encouraged to read the full text presented here.

Continue reading Renewable energies (2): Zoning and energy sovereignty →

Renewable energies and territory: an ongoing debate (1)

Views: 9

The development of solar parks near Sant Climent and Es Mercadal has once again reopened the debate between renewable energy and land use. This is an issue that is never easy to resolve wherever it arises, but it must be addressed calmly if a responsible approach is to be taken. Menorca has already experienced similar episodes in the past.

The occupation of rural land for energy production inevitably generates controversy, especially in a territory where this issue is particularly sensitive, as has repeatedly been shown on the island. However, what is happening in Menorca should not be confused with the clear environmental damage seen in some areas of mainland Spain, nor should it be assumed that rooftop solar alone can deliver the energy transition. The reality is more complex.

This note, together with a following one, presents the position and arguments of the environmental organisation GOB.

Continue reading Renewable energies and territory: an ongoing debate (1) →

Doubts about the second cable

Views: 10

The recent announcement of a second electricity interconnection cable between Menorca and Mallorca raises several concerns regarding the effect it may have on the energy transition of our island, in addition to the environmental impacts that may be generated along its route. The GOB has submitted objections during the public consultation period.

The problem of surplus solar renewable energy during hours of peak sunshine, which Menorca’s demand cannot always absorb, is well understood. Faced with this situation, the institutional proposal is to install a second cable to facilitate the export of surplus renewable energy to Mallorca. However, it should not be overlooked that the objective of the energy transition in Menorca is to reduce the operating hours of the thermal power plant.

Continue reading Doubts about the second cable →

Conscientious Ecology