Tag Archives: Politics

Ciutadella, Sant Lluís and Es Mercadal receive the new tourist places

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In the midst of a water crisis and in a situation of tourism saturation, the governing team of the Island Council of Menorca continues to promote measures that increase human pressure on the island.

The approximately 800 tourist places that the Council has reactivated, violating the tourism moratorium through the subterfuge of a temporary pool, particularly affect Ciutadella, Sant Lluís and Es Mercadal.

It is worth bearing in mind that these municipalities have for years been the main recipients of tourist population and, therefore, some of the territories most affected by the situation of the aquifers. In fact, the unbalanced relationship between the pressure exerted by a tourist and that of a resident becomes even more evident when we focus on water consumption. While a resident in a traditional population centre consumes an average of 180 to 200 litres of water per day, a tourist staying in a residential development can consume between 800 and 1,000 litres per day.

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The mistake of the tourist accommodation places pool

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GOB has asked the Island Council to abandon the use of the tourist accommodation places pool and to require guarantees of water availability for any new tourist concession that is made.

As is well known, the Island Council of Menorca resorted to a subterfuge to avoid the moratorium on tourist accommodation places that has been decreed in the Balearic Islands. The Prohens regional government, which in tourism matters has become characterised by making its discourse point in one direction and its actions in the opposite direction, enabled a way of bypassing the aforementioned moratorium.

It is a mechanism that collects tourist places that are voluntarily deregistered or have been inactive over the last three years, and puts them back on the market. These are tourist places that have ceased to operate, that are inactive, that were not operating. Removing them would not imply any kind of compensation for their former holders.

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The Government lowers water safeguards in new developments

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The requirement to obtain a Water Resources report guaranteeing sufficient water supply for new urban developments has just been reduced by the Balearic Government. The move poses a particular threat to Menorca, where most water bodies are overexploited or contaminated. GOB considers the measure unconstitutional.

The new Law 4/2026 on urgent measures to accelerate strategic projects, also known as the omnibus law, approved by Parliament with the votes of PP and Vox on 26 May 2026, includes an additional provision allowing municipalities to approve or develop urban planning without requesting a prior water sufficiency report from the Directorate General for Water Resources.

This measure weakens the main environmental control over urban growth at the worst possible time. The so-called “strategic projects” law is also a strategy to try to unblock developments that are currently stalled due to reports stating that there is not enough water available.

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Innovative ants

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One hundred thousand years ago, life must have been very different from today. Humans at that time were still a gathering species and moved nomadically across the land.

Without a fixed place to live and without the entertainment we have now, we can assume that our ancestors spent a great deal of time observing nature. They were familiar with the movement of the stars, the signs that marked atmospheric changes, and the annual cycles of life.

They surely noticed ants, the different tasks they perform and the way they organize colonies of thousands or hundreds of thousands of individuals. Furthermore, they likely discovered that ants cultivate fungi, which they nourish with food.

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Positive administrative silence for legalization on rural land is overturned

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The Balearic Parliament has just removed positive administrative silence in the legalization of buildings on rural land. The GOB attributes this to the appeal that was filed at the time before the Constitutional Court. Uncertainty now arises regarding the works that may have been legalized using this mechanism.

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Manifesto against Overcrowding and Proposals for Course Correction

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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.

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Via Menorca demonstration, also against precariousness

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On Saturday the 13th we will also attend the demonstration at Plaça de la Biosfera to protest against the growing economic precariousness. As tourism volume has increased, the island’s GDP per capita has decreased. We are on a path that does not point to a pleasant future, and a change of direction must be demanded.

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Residents 1, Urban developments 0 – 13/06/26

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It is difficult to get people who are spending a few days on holiday to understand that the place they are visiting has water problems. Perhaps they could get an idea if the surrounding context suggested it, but that is not the case.

The progressive loss of drinking water in Menorca is directly related to the economic development model that is being promoted. The resident population is making efforts to reduce consumption, but spending is increasing in tourist areas.

On Saturday, June 13, at 7:30 p.m., a protest action has been called in Biosphere Square in Maó. A great deal is at stake for the immediate future. Please help spread the call.

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Sustainable distortion

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Almost 40 years have passed since the concept of sustainable development was spread worldwide by the United Nations. However, fears about the distortion of the term have gradually come true, and there are still people who equate it with sustained growth.

Ancient philosophers already said that when words lose their meaning, citizens lose their freedom.

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I would like to return to Menorca: 13/06/26

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Official statistics show that Menorca has grown by 80% in the number of tourists over the last 15 years. Increasing overcrowding is not a feeling, it is a reality that is degrading the island in various ways. We already know that this path leads to the models of Ibiza and Mallorca.

But there are people who do not accept this destiny and will take to the streets to protest on Saturday 13 June, at 7.30 pm, at Plaça Biosfera in Maó. This is a new call by Via Menorca, the campaign that aims for the island to once again find a differentiated path, as it had for many years.

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