Care to diversify

A few days ago, the Inca City Council presented the results of a study that I had the honor of coordinating through the Intercoopera Foundation. Its objective was to measure the weight of the social economy within the overall economic and labor activity of the capital of the Raiguer region. It also aimed to highlight that, in addition to caring for the environment and people, social economy initiatives contribute significantly to the local economy, even if they do so discreetly, quietly, but with a strong commitment to the community in which they operate. One of the shortcomings of this sector, which lacks a specific economic activity code (CNAE) because it can operate across many different economic sectors, is the lack of real and effective data on its impact on island society. Therefore, the research we conducted in Inca, as a pilot project, provides us with insights not only into what the administrations should be doing regarding statistical information and data availability to understand the true situation. It also indicates that there is much more to it than we could have imagined, even though there is no major plan or public policy to promote it. In fact, at the regional level, neither the first Master Plan for the Social Economy, approved in 2018, nor the current one, seems to be a priority for either the previous or current government, especially considering their funding and available administrative resources, which are entirely insufficient to effectively boost the sector, as other regions have done.

While almost everyone, regardless of ideology, has long recognized that perhaps the weight of tourism is excessive and that the economy should be diversified, little is being done to make this possible. And sometimes, we are unable to see what is right in front of us, partly because we lack the data to do so, or because more orthodox economists often disregard what the social economy represents, perhaps because it does not pursue maximum profitability, but rather the social and collective interest.

The data from Inca is clear on this point: despite not being a tourist town, and having suffered not only a major industrial crisis in the 80s and 90s that wiped out most of the shoe factories, but also subsequent crises that affected "safe haven" sectors like construction, the macroeconomic data reflects this. But above all, the figures for the hitherto invisible social economy are spectacular: 32 entities of all types (agri-food and worker cooperatives, Agricultural Transformation Societies, various non-profit and ethical finance organizations) out of a total of 1,003 companies accounted for 12.37% of the wealth in 2009 euros. One characteristic of the local social economy ecosystem in Inca is the specific weight of the care economy, that is, those entities that care for vulnerable individuals and groups to guarantee the reproduction of life.

In terms of employment, we're talking about 1,170 active workers in 2025, nearly 14% of the salaried population in the municipality—more than the construction sector itself, real estate activity, and five times more than the rest of the footwear and leather industry. Despite the diversity of the social economy at the local level, placement rates exceed 36 jobs per entity, higher than those of other economic activities.

All that was needed was to get to work to obtain this snapshot, which allows us to try to answer, at least partially, the challenge posed to us a few days ago by the GOB, following the report Impacts on the work of the ecosocial transition in the Balearic Islands Presented in Parliament: What would we live on if we didn't live off tourism?

Inca is proof that, from business and social perspectives that don't prioritize profit maximization above all else, but rather focus on the needs of the people and the land, it's possible to develop intense economic activity that also generates a high volume of employment. Because the eco-social transition cannot come from individual and individualistic entrepreneurship, but rather from more collective and community-based approaches that generate a sufficient number of jobs to transition fairly from a tourism-monoculture economy to one with greater balance between sectors.

And this is where public administrations, as well as a segment of the business sector also struggling with the contradictions generated by the current economic dynamics, have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of the social economy. The key is to nurture diversification.