Margalida Ramis is the president of GOB, the environmentalist organisation that celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year. Over the years the organisation has been a thorn in the side of administrations in the Balearics. From origins as an entity dedicated to ornithology, GOB's activism has expanded greatly. Highly critical of the current tourism model, they were to the fore in organising protests before this summer's series of actions.
It is a mark of the role they have in social and political debate that they were one of the entities invited to participate in the Balearic Government's social and political pact for sustainability. This pact, motivated by concerns about overtourism, finds GOB represented on three of the pact's twelve working parties - natural environment, environmental sustainability and transport. But Ramis is sceptical.
When the pact was proposed, GOB viewed it "with interest". "But we also interpreted it as a tactical shift aimed, on the one hand, at seeking headlines but also related to what they (the government) saw coming - the protests that had begun in the Canary Islands and then spread. To us it seems to be a poorly articulated proposal. Its methodology is not very clear, and seeing who coordinates the group of experts (Professor Antoni Riera), we can imagine what conclusions they will reach.
"They will not put de-growth on the table. In the end they will want to continue prioritising investments above all else. There will be some agreement on digitalisation, there will be talk of sustainability, collaboration, diversification but a commitment to elitism in tourism.
"Tourism for elites is a huge danger. Just look at Ibiza, dedicated to luxury tourism. That doesn't reduce accommodation places. Prices are made more expensive and nothing is solved. That is not the way."
Reflecting on the first main protest this year (towards the end of May), Ramis says that the Banc de Temps collective from Sencelles, who organised the Palma demonstration, focused on the lack of housing. "The housing issue is very important, it is something that affects us all. Banc de Temps were right with their approach, that the houses in the villages are being sold for speculative reasons and that there is nowhere to live."
For Ramis, the philosophy of the Partido Popular government of Marga Prohens is characterised by its administrative simplification decree. "It's a nod towards the most liberal policies, to private property, to the fact that everything is driven by money. Everything, everything was linked to that supposed freedom (a PP election slogan) and to laissez-faire."
But she admits that there is at least some dialogue with regard to tourism. She is critical of the previous government. "There was no dialogue. The tourism law (for circularity and sustainability) was presented in Madrid - at a tourism fair. We only found out about it when it was presented in Madrid. We were very critical of Iago Negueruela (the former tourism minister). Things could have been done differently."