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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.

Sociologists analysing today’s social anxieties point out that many are rooted in the perception that there are no alternatives to the negative effects of the prevailing economic system—the TINA concept popularised by Margaret Thatcher (There Is No Alternative).

Others also warn about the growing ability to shape public opinion. Today, attention is often directed at the trees so that no one can see the forest. Something similar happens in Menorca with sustainability debates.

The factor that ultimately renders rationalisation efforts ineffective is the constant increase in human pressure on the island. When, even in rainy years, the aquifer does not recover; when 98% of real estate transactions are unaffordable for average incomes; when, in a Biosphere Reserve, beaches double or quadruple their maximum capacity; when people have a salary but cannot make ends meet… we should look up.

Look up to understand that an island is a limited place. If no limits are placed on the arrival of people—both tourists and the workforce that accompanies them—sustainability policies will be overwhelmed. And it is not true that this cannot be stopped. Ibiza reversed this trend last year by limiting tourist vehicles.

According to Ibestat data, last summer Ibiza had between 8,000 and 13,000 fewer people per day compared to the previous year, while pressure in Menorca continued to grow. This is not a case of TINA. It is simply that the Island Council has once again decided not to set any limits.

There is no need for simplistic arguments claiming that Menorca cannot abandon tourism overnight. Controlling overcrowding is not being against tourism. Either measures are implemented to curb the progressive increase in human pressure, or the chances of maintaining a decent island in the immediate future will be lost.

There is also a major injustice that is rarely articulated. Large-scale water extraction, pollution, tourist influxes and housing prices often originate from private business activities. When public administrations focus only on addressing the consequences (desalination plants, denitrification systems, incinerators, irrigation ponds, parking areas…), private profits have already been made while the costs are borne by society as a whole.

Seeing the forest of tourist saturation, understanding that alternatives do exist, observing how nearby regions are reacting and recognising that the situation can be reversed—this is how change begins. Becoming a voice that demands a shift in direction is one of the defining cross-cutting challenges of our time.

 

(This text is an adaptation of the original article published by Miquel Camps, as coordinator of territorial policy for the GOB, in the Menorca newspaper on 30/03/2026).