Tag Archives: Territory

Platges de Fornells, no water for more villas and hotels

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In the development of Platges de Fornells, procedures have begun to allow the construction of 116 villas and 297 hotel beds. During the environmental assessment phase, GOB has written to the Balearic Government to warn that there is no water available in the aquifer.

This development in the north of Menorca started its procedures in 1969, when it was declared a National Tourism Interest Centre by the Francoist Ministry of Tourism. Construction began in the 1980s, and the Island Territorial Plan of 2003 redefined its configuration, as happened with many other planned tourist growths.

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Via Menorca denounces environmental misconduct threatening aquifers

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With the recently created Hiking Group for the Detection of Territorial Messes (GEDET for short, in Catalan), the new Via Menorca campaign has started today with the first of the excursions planned for this winter.

Around 200 people set out to walk a route of contrasts. The preservation of the first kilometers along the Camí de Cavalls has clashed with the detection of three unprecedented damages, located in three agrotourism establishments close to each other, in the municipality of Alaior.

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Excursion on territorial aggressions. Saturday 29

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This coming Saturday begins Via Menorca’s programme of excursions to learn about those emblematic aggressions that have been carried out on the island. It will be a walk that combines landscape, campaign activities and information on the damage that has taken place recently.

With little difficulty (only two climbs on the Camí de Cavalls), it will start at 10 a.m. and finish around 1:30 p.m. To organise logistics properly, you must register through this form. When signing up, you will find the rest of the details.

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Visitam un lloc: 900 Menorcan students discover sustainable farming in 2025

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Custòdia Agrària, GOB Menorca’s land stewardship programme, has consolidated the Visitam un lloc (We visit a farm) field visits throughout 2025. This environmental education activity is part of the programme’s social engagement area and aims to offer students of all ages a direct and experiential understanding of the key role played by the primary sector in conserving Menorca’s landscape and its biodiversity. The activity is adapted for students in early childhood, primary and secondary education, as well as post-compulsory studies, from vocational training to adult education.

Throughout this year, 42 visits have taken place at agricultural holdings in Menorca, with the participation of nearly 900 students from different schools across the island. The visits allow students to spend a morning in the countryside and gain first-hand insight into different agricultural production models, all committed to sustainable management and the preservation of Menorca’s agrarian mosaic.

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The Constitutional Court admits the appeal against the law intended to allow construction on rural land

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The Plenary of the Constitutional Court has decided to admit the appeal lodged against the Balearic law that regulates the so-called “strategic residential projects.” This action has been promoted by different civic entities and has the formal support of more than fifty members of parliament from the Socialist, Sumar/Més and Mixed (Podem) groups, along with the involvement and work of their respective legal teams.

The Balearic Parliament approved Law 4/2025, known as the law on strategic residential projects, which allows the construction of houses on rural land without previous service provision in municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, as well as on urban and developable land in municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants.

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Excursion on territorial aggressions. Saturday 29

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Via Menorca’s programme of excursions to learn about emblematic aggressions that have been carried out on the island begins this coming Saturday. It will be a walk that combines landscape, campaign activities and information on the damage that has taken place recently.

With little difficulty (only two climbs on the Camí de Cavalls), it will start at 10 a.m. and finish around 1:30 p.m. To organise logistics properly, you must register through this form. When signing up, you will find the rest of the details.

Continue reading Excursion on territorial aggressions. Saturday 29 →

Summoning the sharks

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The evening was falling over the dark rocks of the north when the shoreline fishermen approached. A thick fishing line wound around a piece of cork, with a sizable hook, was the system used to try to catch moray eels and conger eels—sea predators that, in those years of scarcity, served to make fish soup.

To increase the chances of catching something, besides casting the baited hook in a suitable place and tying the line firmly to the ground, they also poured into the sea a liquid filled with blood and fish remains. Species that live by preying on others have keen senses to detect where there may be potential food—such as a wounded prey.

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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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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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