"How would we make a living in the Islands if not from tourism?"
The GOB has presented a report that points to the primary sector, housework and the reduction of working hours as ways to change the current model
PalmThose who have demonstrated this year against mass tourism demanded a "change of course" towards a new economic and social model in the Balearic Islands. In fact, "We're changing course" was the slogan of the mobilization organized by the Less Tourism More Life platform in July 2024, which brought together nearly 50,000 people in Palma. The opposition also uses the same words to discuss and reject the policies implemented by the government. However, faced with social and political criticism, the governing bodies of the institutions ask where the solutions are that all those who frequently complain have proposed.
For this reason, the GOB (Balearic Ornithological Group) recently presented the report in the Balearic Parliament. Impacts on the work of ecosocial transformation in the Balearic Islands. A degrowth proposalPrepared by the Garúa cooperative, this project poses the question: how would we make a living if not from tourism? Through this initiative, which GOB spokesperson Margalida Ramis describes as "provocative" and "radical," the environmental organization aims to raise an "uncomfortable" issue, one that will generate political debates that are currently lacking. Ramis also explains that the report is a "plan B" proposed by the organization "because otherwise, we only acknowledge the impacts, but we never have an alternative," she argues. However, she recognizes that the presentation of this report does not imply that "this will be the solution followed in the future," but welcomes the fact that "it is a possibility worth exploring."
The same report answers the question posed with a transformation strategy for the period 2025-2035 based on four main lines: reducing material and energy consumption to ecologically viable levels; boosting local production to meet local needs; adapting economic operations to life cycles and committing to a circular economy based on the primary sector and renewable energies; and, finally, promoting a redistribution of wealth that strengthens economic autonomy and social cohesion. Thus, the project outlines a vision to guide the economic, social, and cultural sectors of the Islands toward a new model that is not based on tourism. But what exactly are the solutions it offers?
Cut back on tourism
Tourism is a "monoculture" in the Balearic Islands, according to the report's author and member of the Garúa cooperative, Luis González. However, he warns that tourism "cannot be sustained as it is because it depends on a large number of people and on fuels from distant sources, with very high impacts and consumption levels." Therefore, one of the report's primary conclusions is that "the Balearic economy, which requires the import of many materials from outside, will not be sustainable in the medium term at most," he says. Regarding solutions, the project proposes halving the hours worked in the tourism sector, which, according to the study, totaled 202,145,346 in the Islands in 2022. This reduction would also affect other sectors such as construction and mining (which would also see a 50% reduction), commerce (with a less pronounced decrease due to the revitalization of the local economy), and transportation. The only sector within this group linked to tourism that would see growth is leisure, due to a cultural shift in leisure activities in the Canary Islands society, moving from digital and individualized models towards more collective and in-person activities such as shows, sports, and libraries.
The sectors where, according to the government, working hours should be reduced are those with the highest number of paid hours – 20% in tourism, 14% in construction, and 13% in commerce. However, reductions in these economic sectors would boost growth in others.
Redeploying workers
Reducing working hours in the tourism sector also implies relocating many workers currently employed in it to other sectors such as agriculture and forestry, both linked to local production and a circular economy based on the primary sector. The report shows that food production accounts for only 2% of paid hours, and forestry is negligible. González admits that, for now, the growth of other sectors "is not fast enough due to the tourism monoculture in the Balearic Islands." Therefore, he points out that "the key" is redistribution and how it is implemented: "Does anyone with a business in the hospitality sector close it down? Or do we have a capacity for retraining based on fairness rather than a 'survival of the fittest' approach?" But, for this measure to be applied, he believes that "we must be able to force governments to get organized." However, he exemplifies that this alternative has already been applied to the mining sector with mine closures—which receive public subsidies to allow projects to be carried out—leading to the migration of miners to other trades such as construction, for example. "There are sectors that have the capacity for social organization and fight for their rights and for a dignified life," he insists.
The industrial sector also plays a secondary role, in line with the high import volume of goods to the Balearic Islands. In this regard, Ramis points out that the manufacturing industry linked to the management of the territory's natural resources "has already been a reality in the Islands," so he believes that "we should learn from it and recover it at all costs" with the aim of producing "the essentials." Thus, Ramis opens the door to another sector that could be part of the redistribution of workers currently employed in tourism.
"Despite this significant restructuring, in 2035 the Balearic economy would still be unsustainable. It would still be based on tourism, with activity in the food and forestry and energy and materials sectors being too small," according to the report. Therefore, he considers it "necessary" to propose solutions and focus on this type of transformation "during the following decades," with the aim of changing the model.
Reduction of the working day
Among these measures, the redistribution of jobs through a reduction in working hours without a reduction in pay is important, a debate that has recently been brought to the table in Congress. This should preferably be done on a weekly rather than annual basis, according to the project. The report's calculations determine that a "well-planned" eco-social transition could create up to 14,000 net jobs with 35-hour workweeks, and up to 108,000 if the workweek were reduced to 30 hours. These would be jobs, says González, "in sustainable, stable sectors with better working conditions." In the first case, the study asserts that the net job loss would disappear, while in the second, it would produce job losses in four sectors (tourism, construction, transportation, and mining).
Work to be done
Along with the reduction of working hours, the report also assesses unpaid care work (such as babysitting and housework), which in 2022 totaled 1,823,025,894 hours in the Balearic Islands. "People call this work a burden, but it's part of life," Ramis argues. Therefore, the new model proposed by the GOB (Balearic Ornithological Group) increases the time dedicated to this sector and addresses the social crisis of caregiving, providing more time for it. However, this is coupled with an equitable distribution of these tasks between genders.
