Tag Archives: Sustainability

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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Cala Galdana: ending impunity

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For many years, the stream at Cala Galdana has suffered repeated pollution discharges. Numerous inspections have been carried out by different monitoring and enforcement bodies, yet the source of the periodic spills that alter the colour and smell of the water flowing from the Algendar ravine has still not been identified.

It is urgent that the municipalities of Ferreries and Ciutadella excavate inspection trenches along both sides of the stream and intercept any pipelines that do not serve a public purpose. Only then will it be possible to identify those responsible and put an end to the current situation of impunity.

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Esteim fartes! [We are fed up!] New Via Menorca T-shirt

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Via Menorca calls on the ants to leave the anthill and defend the island from pressure and threats. A campaign T-shirt has been produced.

We would like to remind everyone that the rally will take place on Saturday 13 June in front of the Menorca Island Council, at Plaça Biosfera, at 7.30 pm.

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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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So Na Parets Vives joins Custòdia Agrària

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Custòdia Agrària, GOB Menorca’s land stewardship programme continues to grow. This May, it welcomes a new farm: So Na Parets Vives, an organic livestock project focused on artisanal goat cheese production and the regenerative management of the land.

The farm is located in the municipality of Ciutadella and covers an area of approximately 30 hectares. Its main productive model is organic goat farming with Murciano-Granadina breed goats (although there are also pigs and cows).

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

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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.

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The cross-cutting issue

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Spring has begun, leaving behind meetings, conferences, studies and debates on important issues in Menorca. Menorca’s winter brings a remarkably active pace of events that encourage reflection and analysis. And in all these initiatives, when one takes a moment to think, a common factor emerges—one that runs through all these issues and fills them with a sense of concern.

We struggle to find solutions for aquifer management, access to housing, waste reduction and recycling, beach overcrowding, and the gradual loss of purchasing power.

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Cutting the flower

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The President of the European Commission says that nuclear energy is strategic for Europe. Next month will mark 40 years since the very serious accident at the (formerly Soviet and now Ukrainian) Chernobyl plant, when a radioactive cloud larger than the entire Iberian Peninsula was released and drifted across the West as far as the United States. The radiation was equivalent to hundreds of bombs like the one in Hiroshima.

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