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Many people have asked to see the analysis of the issues that was read at last Saturday’s gathering on the 13th at the Biosphere Square, as well as the proposals that were put forward.

In response to this repeated request, we are providing the full text that was read. We hope it will help clarify concepts, improve conversations and seek real solutions.

We also hope it will help counter repeated attempts to divert attention to other issues, or to show that this is not an all-or-nothing debate. We are calling for limits to be placed on certain dynamics that are getting out of control and generating multiple negative effects.

These are transversal aspects of life in Menorca, driven by people and collectives who experience these problems first-hand and who consistently show a willingness to seek solutions.

We invite you to join the ants that have already begun to move.
So that Menorca may have a достой future.

MANIFESTO

1.- PROTESTS

“We live off tourism.” We have been hearing this mantra for years. So long, in fact, that we have ended up giving in and believing there was no alternative.

We have been told that the more tourists came, the richer we would become, the more future opportunities we would have. That more was always better. But the only thing that has truly grown is the discomfort of the resident population. More tourism has meant greater difficulty accessing housing, greater difficulty finding well-paid work, more pressure on natural resources and more saturation of basic services. We have built an economic model that has made tourism its central activity.

For those who do not understand it, or choose to misunderstand it, we are not asking for Menorca to stop having tourism. We are asking for limits to be placed on unlimited growth.

Today we are here because we are fed up with this discourse; we are fed up with tourism crushing us, draining our water, pushing us out of our homes and forcing us into precarious jobs. We want to be able to live in Menorca, and to do so with dignity.

We are fed up with tourism crushing us.

In just fifteen years, the number of tourists visiting Menorca has increased by almost 80%. Last year the island received nearly 2 million visitors: 2,000 tourists for every 100 residents.

If we count all the people present on Menorca throughout the year, approximately 95% are tourists and only 5% are residents.

This constant growth is presented as a sign of success, which is why the Island Council of Menorca spends around €20,000 per day on tourism promotion. But their records are our suffocation: success cannot be measured by the number of visits while ignoring the living conditions of residents.

Overcrowding is the consequence of a model that needs to grow at all costs.

Every year we receive more tourists, and every year life gets worse.

We are fed up with our water being drained.

Water is running out. Water is probably the natural resource that most clearly shows the physical limits of Menorca.

The springs have been drying up for years and the aquifers are in an extreme situation, as they fail to recover even during the rainiest years. Yet water consumption continues to increase because of tourism, as a visitor uses up to six times more water than a resident. Urban developments house only 18% of the population, but account for almost 50% of the island’s water consumption.

There are towns where water is no longer potable or where restrictions are being considered, while gardens and large irrigation systems are watered in full sun without control. It cannot be acceptable that every hotel room has its own swimming pool or that car rental companies do not reuse the water they waste.

We often talk about Menorca’s tourist capacity, but much less about its water capacity. No economic model is viable if it is based on consuming more water than the territory can regenerate.

Who will come when there is no water left in the tap?

We are fed up with being pushed out of our homes.

Tourism first took over the coastline, then entered the towns, and now it has settled inside our homes. The housing crisis is the main concern of residents: 99% of the homes advertised on the island are inaccessible to Menorcans; only 1% can afford them.

There are currently around 114,000 tourist beds in Menorca, both legal and illegal. Many homes are no longer places to live, but to do business. Some 12,000 homes are marketed through platforms such as Airbnb, equivalent to the total housing stock of Alaior, Es Mercadal and Es Migjorn Gran combined.

Moreover, nearly 7% of the island’s housing is concentrated in the hands of the same people, that is, large property owners.

Housing has been misunderstood as a commodity rather than a right. This crisis no longer affects only residents and seasonal workers. People live in Menorca: those who work and sustain the holidays and daily life of the tourists who visit us, those who staff our hospitals, teach our children, provide basic services and those who no longer have anywhere to sleep.

Alliances between collectives are key. That is why today the members of the Menorca Assembly for Decent Housing are here. We encourage you to closely follow the valuable work they are doing.

We are fed up with precarious jobs.

If tourism makes us so rich, why is it increasingly difficult to live in Menorca? Why do we work more hours and struggle more to make ends meet? Why has becoming independent become a luxury? Why do so many people have to leave the island or give up their life project? Why has the right to leisure become a privilege?

The Balearic Islands are one of the regions in the State that allocate the largest share of salaries to essential expenses such as housing, food or electricity. A Balearic household spends an average of €3,900 per month, around €12,000 more per year than the national average.

When Menorca received only a third of today’s tourists, income per person was higher. That is, we had fewer visitors and were economically better off; we were richer. This is the great failure of tourism monoculture: the economy grows, but well-being for those who live and work here all year round deteriorates.

An island dependent on a single sector is a vulnerable island. We need a more diverse economy, with more industry, more local production, more renewable energy, more quality employment and sectors that generate wealth without expelling people from their homes.

Because Menorca’s future cannot consist of working more to live worse in an elitist environment. Because we do not want an economy that grows while people become poorer and poorer. We want to be able to live in Menorca, and to do so with dignity.

We are fed up.

2.- PROPOSALS

Living only off tourism is no longer an option. We have said so through protests, but also through proposals that have not been listened to: reducing dependence on tourism, lowering pressure on natural resources and strengthening sectors that cover basic needs—food, care, housing, energy and rehabilitation—while ensuring a just transition for workers.

For this reason, today we repeat these proposals before the Island Council, to see whether, from closer by, they might listen better.

Overcrowding

To curb overcrowding, the Consell Insular de Menorca can already limit the entry of tourist vehicles, without misleading us by saying that one study after another is needed. You tell us that this measure has a partisan purpose, when all the other islands have already approved or implemented it, under the same political leadership that governs here.

You have been stringing us along for three years, and your excuses no longer convince us. By implementing this measure, Eivissa has managed to reduce around 8,000 tourists per day throughout the summer and has clearly noticed the benefits.

You can also establish a legal cap on tourist accommodation places and stop assigning new ones. At present, you intend to add 24,000 more, a capacity that must be reviewed. We exceeded the limit a long time ago.

At present, no taxes are applied to tourist accommodation. Why does tourist accommodation not pay VAT, or only pay 10%? From the Island Council, you should demand a change to this situation. An activity that is forcing residents out of their homes cannot be rewarded.

You should also limit the arrival of cruise ships at the ports of Menorca. Neighbouring islands are already showing us the effects of this type of unlimited offer: an invasion of people into urban centres, with hardly any noticeable economic return.

Housing

To stop the housing disaster, the Island Council can eliminate tourist rentals within towns and villages, which should be the priority space for the resident population to live.

Why not declare Menorca a stressed housing area? The conditions to do so have been met for some time, and this would allow rent prices to be regulated. Building more is not an option if prices are set solely by the free market.

The Island Council can also rehabilitate existing housing that is currently unused and apply taxes to empty homes so that they enter the residential market.

You can also encourage and create incentives for the development of housing cooperatives that guarantee prices people can afford to live at.

Water

To address the water problem, the Island Council can encourage all municipalities to adopt progressive tariffs based on water use. Should the water used by a tourist establishment or a swimming pool cost the same as the water we need to survive?

The water problem in Menorca will not be solved simply by installing desalination plants, as they want us to believe. The municipality of Ciutadella has had one for 15 years and is the town with the most depleted and polluted aquifer.

It is necessary to renew the public drinking water distribution network in the municipalities and thereby reduce losses due to leaks, which in some cases are extremely high.

When reviewing this infrastructure, you should also ensure that the millions invested in regenerating treated wastewater truly serve to allow aquifers to recover, rather than paying for private businesses and large construction projects that later prove to be useless.

Jobs

At present, our economy depends heavily on tourism. What are you doing to curb this dependence?

To reverse labour precariousness and diversify the economy, the Island Council can invest in other sectors, not only the traditional ones, such as promoting the energy rehabilitation of buildings and local industries focused on repair, reuse and recycling.

It is also essential to promote the production of healthy food for the local market. Almost everything we eat comes from elsewhere.

And what would happen if you promoted research? We could become a leading island in environmental regeneration technologies, in the blue economy, and home to companies that provide technological support to industries.

Do you want to turn Menorca into a diversified, resilient and pleasant island to live on? Or will we continue to be a saturated, suffocated island with no possible future horizons?

Today we have given you some ideas that we hope you will be willing to listen to.

We are fed up.