Annual economic reports in the Balearic Islands: 1969-2024

The main reference point for annual economic reports on the Spanish economy is the Bank of Spain. What is less well known is that the first Annual Report wasn't published until 1962, thirty-two years after the creation of its Research Department in 1930. In the case of the Balearic Islands, the figure of Miquel Alenyà Fuster cannot be overlooked if one wishes to provide, even briefly, a concise outline of the origins of annual economic reports. In his memoirs From my memory: 1939-2017' (Ed. Lleonard Muntaner. Palma, 2017) comments on the beginnings of the 'Economic and social report"In February 1969, Carles Blanes Nouvilas, then general manager of Sa Nostra for a year, (...) commissioned the writing of the four chapters that made up the first edition of the report mentioned in 1968. The economist Pere Costa Porto was in charge of the chapter on trade and the trade balance, Casasnovas wrote the one on tourism, and I wrote the one on industry. Under the direction of Miquel Alenyà, the annual economic reports for the Balearic Islands continued until 2000, since from 2001 onwards Sa Nostra began l'Report from the Center for Economic Research (CRE), which breaks radically with the trajectory of previous reports, since: "(...) The quality of the reports gradually declines (...) From the outset, the entire previous team, its experience, and the values associated with a 33-year trajectory of continuous, prestigious, and consistently pluralistic public work are dispensed with. The model shifts from authors who sign the chapters of the report to a model of a single author and responsibility (...) On November 9, 2012, the last actions of the CRE are carried out, and on Monday, November 19, 2012, the termination of the agreement with the UIB by Sa Nostra is made public through a press release (178-179).

The reform of the Statute of January 1999 introduced a new Article 42, which states: "The Economic and Social Council of the Balearic Islands is the collegiate body for participation, study, deliberation, advice, and proposals on economic and social matters," and Law 10/2000, of November 30, defines it as "(...)." In accordance with its nature, it is responsible, among other things, for issuing an annual report, which has been known since 2001 as CES report on the economy, work and society of the Balearic Islands.

To prepare this Annual Report, the Economic and Social Council (CES) established the Working Committee for the Preparation of the Socioeconomic Report at its plenary session on March 26, 2002. Advisors were appointed to begin their work: Miquel Alenyà as advisory member of Group III of Sectoral Organizations/Institutions, representing the Government of the Balearic Islands, and Pere Mascaró as director of the SOIB (Balearic Islands Employment Service) and an expert in labor market analysis. Among the main initial tasks was defining the content of the Report and identifying its contributors, primarily professors and lecturers from the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) and officials from the Balearic Government and the island councils responsible for managing and providing the information required by the CES. Regarding the content, the following was taken into account:Annual economic report of the Bank of Spain, the Socioeconomic report of the CES of Spain and the socio-economic reports of the statutory CES of the different Autonomous Communities, and of course, the accumulated knowledge of theEconomic and social report of the Balearic Islands, directed by Miquel Alenyà.

The first CES Annual Report, covering the year 2001, comprises three chapters: Economy, Labor Market and Quality of Life, and Social Protection and Immigration, presented across 807 pages. This structure has remained more or less unchanged over time, with some significant modifications, such as the placement of the chapter on the environment. The latest CES Annual Report was presented on October 22nd at the Palma Chamber of Commerce, and its historical series, along with the annual reports from Sa Nostra, allows us to affirm that the Balearic Islands are among the few regions that can boast rigorous and consistent annual regional economic data covering more than 50 years of our regional economic history.