The mirage of growth in the Balearic Islands

PalmIn the Balearic Islands, the numbers don't add up. We're the region with the greatest population growth over the last two decades, and we're also one of those with the greatest increase in production: specifically, 155% between 2000 and 2023, behind only Madrid. But studies make it clear that this dynamism hasn't translated into well-being. The fact is that, over the same period, GDP per capita has risen by only 8.2%, well below the national average of 11.1%. The paradox is evident: we're growing faster than anyone else, but prosperity is less evenly distributed.

In the case of the Balearic Islands, it's clear that more workers doesn't mean more profitability. The economic engine of the Balearic Islands has needed hundreds of thousands of additional workers to keep pace, but when it comes time to pay them, it's not enough, either because there are too many of us to spread around or because part of the capital is going abroad. Meanwhile, territories that have grown less in population and production, such as Extremadura and Galicia, have improved more in GDP per capita. And the communities that share our dependence on tourism—such as the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community—are also showing poor results. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Basque Country, with a solid industrial base and a long-term strategy, presents an enviable balance sheet.

In the Balearic Islands, the image is that of a bicycle that only keeps moving—but doesn't make more progress—if more and more people pedal, with the resulting depletion of resources, land, and the environment. Jobs are created, yes, but too often they are very precarious. And the disposable income of many families does not reflect the wealth generated in the archipelago as a whole.

It is true that for more than 25 years, there has been talk of the need to diversify the economy, to reduce dependence on monoculture tourism, and to generate productive activity beyond quantitative growth. But in all this time, political parties of all stripes have governed, and the result is the same: no major steps have been taken in this regard. It's not simple—if it were, perhaps it would be resolved—but the diagnosis has been repeated more than once. Concrete actions are lacking.

Now that the word 'containment' has entered the agenda, it's important to prevent it from becoming merely a rhetorical device, as has happened with so many other concepts. Containment must mean setting defined limits, with figures and timelines; planning and establishing paths to achieve them. Otherwise, the Balearic Islands will continue to be stuck in an increasingly inefficient and, above all, impoverishing model. Because the most painful paradox, the mirage of the islands' growth, is that amidst all the wealth we produce, more and more citizens are excluded.