The Balearic environment minister, Miquel Mir of Més, said on Wednesday that it is "essential" to debate the contents of the Mallorca Strategy 2030 document and urged all parties with parliamentary representation to limit tourism and population growth.
Mir made his remarks at a meeting with the coordinator of the environmental section of this document, oceanographer Xavier Pastor. The minister praised the conclusions, which include limiting tourism and urban development growth, prohibiting housing on rustic land, decreasing tourist accommodation places and considering the removal or relocation of buildings within one hundred metres of the shoreline.
The debate, stressed Mir, "cannot be postponed". Although governments of the left in the Balearics have taken great strides, e.g. through a declassification of developable land in 2020, "it is urgent to adopt courageous structural policies such as those contemplated in the document coordinated by Xavier Pastor". "It is essential that there are structural changes that limit the entry of people. It would be crazy to allow the forecast of the National Statistics Institute to come true - 300,000 more inhabitants within 15 years."
The Mallorca Strategy 2030 document, which has been prepared for the Council of Mallorca, addresses issues such as overpopulation and overexploitation of resources. There are four sections - economic, social and governance are the others. The coordinators of these sections are due to meet the councillor for the presidency, Javier de Juan, on December 1 and to initiate a process for policies.