Category Archives: News

UNESCO halts the large Rafal Rubí bridge project

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Menorca’s organized civil society has achieved another victory in the conservation of the island’s landscape values. UNESCO has taken a position on the controversy surrounding the double-level roundabout that the Island Council intends to build at Rafal Rubí and has requested that the works be stopped and that a less impactful alternative be sought — precisely what civic entities have been asking for.

Several cultural, social, and environmental associations have jointly demanded that the design of the Rafal Rubí junction respect the guidelines established by UNESCO when Talayotic Menorca was declared a World Heritage Site.

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Cristòfol Mascaró Sintes, Pere Prats Environmental Award 2025

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Cristòfol Mascaró Sintes has been unanimously chosen by the Board of Directors of GOB Menorca as the winner of the Pere Prats Environmental Award 2025, posthumously.

With this recognition, GOB Menorca wishes to acknowledge and make visible the work of a biologist considered one of Menorca’s best botanists in recent decades. Tòfol Mascaró was an expert on Menorca’s biodiversity and its conservation, as well as a great connoisseur and promoter of the island’s natural heritage, with remarkable teaching skills.

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The Rural Land Consortium and the pending information

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GOB is an organisation that receives many citizen reports related to environmental issues. The association’s 48 years of continuous work help explain why many people prefer to speak with GOB rather than with the public administration.

When these reports refer to environmental alterations or damage, the facts are verified and detailed information is sent to the competent administration. The level of activity varies depending on what is happening in the territory. When there are major operations in forest areas, many reports are received on that matter. When there is no surveillance of fishing, reports come in about illegal fishing, and so on.

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The Legal Front for the Environmental Defence of Menorca is born

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The will to have more tools to face aggressive projects against the territory and its environmental values has generated a strategic alliance now being launched in Menorca. The RADA association and GOB have agreed to create a joint legal front.

RADA (Red de Abogados y Abogadas de Defensa Ambiental) is a national network of professionals who share resources and information to help each other in their work defending the environment—a group of environmental law specialists willing to help preserve the island.

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Gratitude and recognition for Cala en Busquets

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The organisations promoting the Platform in Defence of Cala en Busquets wish to express our gratitude for the support received in recent weeks, both from individuals and from other organisations that have encouraged us to raise our voices publicly against the dry marina project.

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A dangerous agrarian law for farmers

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The draft Agrarian Law recently published by the Balearic Government could turn against farmers. Promoting economic activities that displace agriculture or removing environmental safeguards that protect soil fertility is not helping farmers—it is using them as an excuse to legislate in favour of other sectors. GOB has submitted objections.

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Constitutional challenge against the “Strategic Residential Projects Law”

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Social and environmental organizations in the Balearic Islands have publicly announced the filing of a constitutional appeal before the Spanish Constitutional Court against the Balearic law regulating so-called strategic residential projects.

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Manifesto for the defence of Cala en Busquets

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Several civic organisations have analysed the dry marina project promoted by Ports de les Illes Balears at Cala en Busquets and have agreed to work together to try to stop the initiative.

The planned intervention in this cove of Ciutadella’s port aims to install a dry marina with capacity for 120 boats, as well as to build a large concrete esplanade and a vertical wall. This would have a major landscape impact and would further increase the nautical pressure on the port.

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Irrigation with contaminated water

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Irrigation with contaminated water

The Balearic Government’s Department of Agriculture says it intends to significantly increase the irrigated areas of Menorca, but it has not clarified where the necessary water will come from.

One of the most imminent projects — the use of treated wastewater for irrigation in Sant Lluís — raises fears of contamination due to the poor quality of the water. This initiative directly contradicts existing water management policies.

The project is to be financed with public funds, amounting to around 8 million euros. GOB submitted detailed objections outlining all the concerns the project raises. No response has been received, but the Government has announced that it plans to start construction soon.

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