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Cala en Turqueta is a small natural wonder. Two discreet ravines in southern Menorca converge at a single point, forming a bifurcated beach of clear sand, turquoise waters, and tall vegetation reaching the water’s edge. This place combines the idyllic characteristics of tourist promotion with the unique identity of an iconic space for the island’s territorial defense.

In the early seventies, the property owners promoted the area’s urbanization. It was a time of centralized administration. The Ministry of Information and Tourism declared Cala en Turqueta a National Tourist Interest Center. The intention was clear.

Propaganda from the era advertised hundreds of plots, roads, lighting, running water, sewage, and even an artificial beach. But administrative resources, civic initiatives, and institutional efforts joined forces to defend this enchanting spot. Today, it is a protected area under various laws. Undoubtedly, a great victory.

Nevertheless, other realities prevail. Now, you can drive there until the parking lot fills up, or take an hourly bus. Or a nautical bus from nearby urbanizations. Or boats carrying over a hundred passengers. Or private boats. Or by taxi, motorcycle, or bicycle. Therefore, this jewel of the tourist crown endures daily pressure throughout the summer, twice or even three times the limit set by regulatory instruments.

Arriving on foot at dawn is a gift. Walking through the pine and oak forest in the dim early light restores the cherished calm identity that greets walkers with serene beauty. Near the sea, surface roots intertwine with emerging rocks, like fingers grasping for support.

The ravines have collected water since time immemorial. A vast area gathers rain and underground aquifer movements, channeling everything to a single point. The ancient waterwheel testifies to this subterranean, invisible but indispensable value.

Similarly, diverse people come together to build communal things. This will, like hidden water, is a cryptic, underlying value that is equally essential. They come to do things that require the collaboration of many people. Dozens of towels, lovingly spread out on the sand, forming a mosaic with the name of the beloved island.

People sit on the beach. Individually, they would go unnoticed. But sitting next to each other, a collective product emerges, where each person is essential in forming a text seen only from the sky but reaching around the world.

It will have been the only day in July when human pressure adjusted, for a few hours, to what it should be daily. This is the unfulfilment that needs correction.

Small Cala en Turqueta, who will draw your sweet peace? A handful of young hearts have answered the decades-old poem. Enthusiasm and experience have joined with the fragile morning dew to build a loudspeaker for current challenges.

A family of red-backed shrikes accompanies the gathering. They sing their call, moving effortlessly amongst the people and drawing quick shapes in the air while catching almost invisible mosquitoes. Today, nature seems grateful.

(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 05/08/2024).