Menorca, radio oblivion
The Balearic Government has announced that it will open a public tender for DAB+ licenses, the digital terrestrial radio station, in 2025. Despite this being positive news overall, in Menorca, we can't help but view this commitment to the future with growing frustration: we still can't even access an FM frequency.
New radio licenses have not been awarded on the island since 2010. The stations that obtained their permits at the time continue to operate, but any new project—such as IdóFM, a Menorcan cultural and community radio station that focuses on language, participation, and the territory—has no legal basis. The conventional route, FM, has been frozen for over a decade. And the digital route, DAB+, doesn't even have active coverage in the territory.
The paradox is clear. There is talk of modernization, but the urgent need to open the possibility of new voices accessing the radio is not addressed. The result is de facto exclusion. Digital is being promoted, but in Menorca neither digital nor analog is being updated.
It may sound technical, but it's simple: in Spain, FM radio licenses are assigned according to a state document called the National Technical Plan, which establishes how many frequencies are available and where. Without this updated plan, the autonomous communities cannot open new tenders. And this plan has not been renewed for years. This is the main reason why Menorca has not been able to expand its radio coverage since 2010.
Meanwhile, FM remains the system used by the majority of the population to listen to the radio. There is no official plan to shut it down. DAB+, for now, is a promising technology but still lacks sufficient technical implementation or audience, especially in island areas like Menorca, where there isn't even an active signal.
The Balearic Government has announced that the future DAB+ competition will be open to new projects, not just reserved for stations that already have a license. This is good news. But it's of little use to open this competition if there's no digital coverage for broadcasting in Menorca. And it's even less useful to talk about diversity when new projects aren't even allowed access to an FM frequency, the system most people still use.
The situation demonstrates a lack of coordinated planning between administrations. The Ministry for Digital Transformation, responsible for the technical framework, hasn't updated its plan. And the Balearic Government, despite its commitment to digital, hasn't offered solutions for those who want to start in FM today and can't.
At IdóFM, we are concerned. We want to contribute to the local radio ecosystem. We want to do so legally, with our voices, languages, and values. But the current system prevents us from doing so.
Radio isn't just technology: it's culture, community, and the right to communicate. Modernization is necessary, yes. But it can't be built on the enforced silence of those who want to start. Because plurality isn't promised: it's guaranteed. And in Menorca, we haven't been guaranteed anything for too long.
