AIMS:
Reinforce the laws governing the region's official natural parks with the co-operation of the property owners.
Improve conservation and preservation along with access and use for visitors and residents.
FIRST PROJECTS:
1. Mondrago Natural Parc: The Mondrago project will involve the purchase of eight private plots of land inside the natural park to increase the area open to the public. The project also includes the renovation of a building in Santanyi which will be converted into a Mondrago Natural Park information and study centre.
2. Llevant Natural Park: The Llevant project will feature the renovation of a number of old houses which will be transformed into guest houses and refuges for walkers. Old paths and tracks will be restored. A new system of well sign-posted routes and walks for visitors. A visitors' centre is to be set up. A park management and communication system is also to be introduced. The project will also involve new Artà and Capdepera information centres being established. In both projects the two corresponding local councils of Santanyi and Artà are involved as is the Balearic Ministry for the Environment and various local organisations and administrations.
Projects for the future will eventually involve all of the Balearics' natural parks.
Resorts
AIMS:
Get rid of eyesores and reduce negative impact on the environment
Renovate degraded areas for touristic use.
Promote energy and water saving programmes.
Encourage greater use of public transport
PROJECTS:
1. Playa de Palma: The Playa de Palma project could take as long as nine years to complete, but the resorts will be unrecognisable when the project is completed. In the first stage, the government will be reducing the environmental impact of 11 stone quarries in the area, two will be purchased for public use and the contract to develop an area of 64 hectares which comprises around 100 quarries will be put up for international tender. Hotels will be encouraged to install water saving devices and solar energy systems. The water course which runs through the Playa de Palma/Na Clot/Des Jueus is to be cleaned and re-landscaped with walks and gardens. The existing 250-seat convention centre owned by the Hotel Association is to be renovated and refurbished. The commercial sector is to be made more eco-friendly with eyesores being removed from shop fronts etc. A new 100 kilometre cycle route from the Playa de Palma to Campos is to be built which it is hoped will also act as an alternative route for commuters cycling to work, with dry stone walls along the route being restored.
2. Demolition for green belt: The sea front hotel in Cas Catala is to be purchased and demolished, allowing for greater access to the beach and a look-out to be built. Forty unfinished apartments in Son Serra de Marina are also to be knocked down, creating more public area.
3. Mariestany: The government wants to turn the 25 hectares of wet land in Alcudia over to public use. The first stage will involve purchasing the land. The second and third stages will involve the government deciding which parts are the most important to the park, these in turn will be conserved and protected. Public access will be improved along with the installation of viewing platforms while areas of the park which have been neglected will be renovated.
4. Can Picafort cycle tourism route: As part of the non-motorised Balearic road plan a cycle route from the Port of Alcudia to Can Picafort is to be built in three sections to provide a safe route for cyclists while also providing cyclists with maximum space along the route.
Natural Spaces
AIMS:
Protect natural spaces from further environmental damage.
Improve access to natural spaces for residents and visitors.
PROJECTS:
1. Son Real: The government intends to purchase the Son Real finca which is on the coast in the muncipality of Santa Margalida. The idea is to restore the property which dates back to the 16th and 19th centuries, and also includes a Punic burial ground and extensive pine forests, and create a national sand museum dedicated to the whole of Spain which would also feature all the various dune and coastal systems in the Balearics.
2. Dry stone wall mountain walk: The second project involves the completion of the dry stone wall walks though the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range which starts in Andratx and ends in Pollensa. While two mountain refuges for walkers have been completed and others are being restored, the government wants to close the purchase of three other properties in Pollensa, Esporlas and Estellencs to complete the network of refuges.
3. Ca S'Amitger at Lluc: The government plans to buy the Ca S´Amitger estate, which is adjacent to, and belongs to, Lluc monastery so the land can be turned over to public use. The estate is of great environmental and ecological importance and has also been farmed by the monastery for years. The government plans to rejuvenate the plots of fertile land and start growing native fruit and vegetables by using traditional methods. There currently exists a site for the study and exhibition centre, but the projects have yet to be completed.
Heritage
AIMS:
Revive the Balearics' heritage and provide greater access to the public.
Key element to the diversification of the tourist industry
PROJECTS:
1. Historic and cultural route through Palma: An information and exhibition centre dedicated to Gothic Palma is to be established in Can Weyler, an old and historic building. The second of the four historically important properties intended for renovation is Can Fabregues which is currently owned by the government and is a building of cultural interest. Can Fabregues will become home to a Majorca information centre which would promote the best of Majorca's culture, history, countryside, people etc. Can Serra, a Gothic building which dates back to the 16th century, will become a museum for decorative and alternative Majorcan arts, two areas of Majorcan culture which the Ministry for Education, and Culture believes have been lost over recent years. The final stage is the purchase and renovation of an old quartermaster's barracks which will then be developed into an International Exhibition centre. The site has been chosen because of the large interior space available for big exhibitions. All of the four new information centres, museums and exhibition centre will be key features of the cultural and historic walk round Palma which will also take in the existing sites of cultural and artistic interest. The route will take visitors into the capital's nautical world, the city's very heart, the remains of the Arab conquest, avant garde Palma, its convents, the Cathedral, the commercial centres and the city's diverse architectural influences. The global idea of the route is to provide visitors with a concise insight into the city and teach them the capital's history.
Agriculture & rural heritage
AIMS:
Promote traditional and autochthonous agriculture while conserving the countryside and cultural traditions.
Encourage more organic farming
PROJECTS:
1. Agricultural transformation and development centres are to be set up for agricultural and livestock farmers on the Llevant industrial estate: Transformation centres to help local producers become more competitive.
2. Develop new irrigation systems with the emphasis on the use of treated sewage water: New treated water supply grids.
3. Purchase an estate to house a centre for investigation and the development of organic farming: An experimental farm with native livestock is to be set up at an organic farming development site at Sa Granja.
4. Restoration of building to house agricultural museums and rural information centres: Wine museum in Binissalem and agro-museums and rural information centres in Llubi and Porreres.