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It has been confirmed that most of the activities carried out on the property located north of Binixíquer de sa Torre were conducted without legal permits. A disciplinary file has been opened for urban planning violations, and the impact on a cataloged cave has been documented.

In February, GOB revealed significant interventions on a rural property in the municipality of Maó. These included a 10,000 m² racing track, the demolition of hundreds of meters of dry stone walls, the alteration of an inventoried cave, a massive 20,000 m² grass garden, and building extensions.

The Rural Disciplinary Consortium has now confirmed that these actions lacked legal authorization. The exact penalties for those responsible have not been disclosed, though. Furthermore, the impact on a cataloged cave should trigger an additional file by the Heritage Department.

The large grass garden was not mentioned in the Consortium’s findings, likely because it falls outside their urban planning jurisdiction. However, maintaining such a garden green in summer requires between 6 and 8 liters of water per square meter daily, amounting to approximately 140 tons of water per day.

To put this into perspective, this consumption equals the daily water needs of 800 people living in a traditional village. This means that a single individual is using more water for their garden than all the houses in the nearby village of Sant Climent combined.

GOB will continue to monitor the situation to push for a resolution to this excessive and unnecessary consumption of aquifer water. Maintaining a green lawn in summer follows a Nordic gardening model, which is entirely incompatible with the landscape and values of Menorca. Such large-scale interventions are unsustainable and unaffordable for the island.