The artistic legacy of the former Sa Nostra Social and Cultural Work is now in more hands than ever. Many of the creations made by artists from the Balearic Islands between the late 20th and early 21st centuries were stored after the Balearic savings bank ended its 130-year history. And now, 14 years after the closure of Sa Nostra's offices, some of the funds, transferred with the subsequent merger between CaixaBank and Bankia, are being raffled off in charity auctions.

The 41 moorings of the historic port of Sanitja, north of Mercadal, will be available for use again from this summer. This was announced this Thursday by the Minister of the Sea and Water Cycle, Juan Manuel Lafuente, at the end of the coordination meeting convened with Costas, the boaters, the City Council and the Consell de Menorca to find a solution.

Overcoming the traditional dependence on El Caserío that marked the sector until the beginning of the century, Menorca's countryside survives the blows of international politics, the concern caused by price increases due to the war in Iran, and the 22% cut in European CAP aid. The change in land ownership into the hands of foreign investors, such as businessman Víctor Madera, has prevented the premature abandonment of dozens of farms and has reinforced the sector's commitment to other types of agricultural exploitation that have given it new momentum.

313 years have passed since the Treaty of Utrecht, an international agreement that the Assemblea Sobiranista de Mallorca still blames on Great Britain and considers “a colonial problem unresolved” with negative consequences still today for the “catalan nation”, including the Balearic Islands.

The historic port of Sanitja, which housed the ancient Roman city of Sanisera, north of Mercadal, is on the verge of the boatless season. Not a single one of the forty that were still there until this winter. Costes has evicted them for failing to regularize the users' association and the legal status of the five jetties that were used in this protected area, which had already led to the opening of several sanctioning proceedings by the state administration.

The reduction of VAT from 21% to 10% on electricity and fuel announced a week ago by President Pedro Sánchez to compensate 20 million households and three million businesses in Spain with 5,000 million euros has not satisfied a large part of the economic agents in the Islands. Apart from the uncertain effect that international tension will have this season on tourist activity, the war conflict in the Middle East has hit freight transport, construction, agriculture, the self-employed, and other strategic sectors of the Balearic Islands hard.

The Maria Àngels Cardona Institute in Ciutadella will limit the use of computers next academic year and will work to reinforce learning with paper. The faculty of the Minorcan center approved the new Model for the use of learning materials, which postpones the use of laptops until the third year of ESO and makes paper the reference tool for organizing and structuring class subjects.

She is the third mayor of Ciutadella in this term and the fifth woman to occupy the mayor's office since the beginning of democracy. A protégé of current Member of Parliament Joana Gomila (Más por Menorca), with whom she entered the City Council in 2019, Maria Jesús Bagur (1979) takes on the challenge of completing the changes that will transform the city over the next decade.

This summer, no concrete measures will be implemented to curb overcrowding and limit the arrival of tourists and cars to Menorca during peak season. Neither the updated Island Territorial Plan (PTI) nor the new tourism capacity ceiling, set at 107,917 beds in the preliminary carrying capacity study, have yet been approved. And this despite the fact that the influx of visitors continues to increase not only during the summer but also outside of peak season. In fact, 2025 was the first year in which the number of registered residents on the island never fell below 100,000, not even in December. Even so, the People's Party (PP) team, which governs the Menorca Island Council in minority with the external support of the councilor expelled from Vox, will still lack the necessary physical and legal mechanisms to restrict vehicle traffic. The PP's repeated announcements throughout its term have remained just that: words, not actions. It will likely be the last island to take measures to restrict access and limit congestion, although it is also the only one that, for the past three years, has had a legal tool to do so: the Biosphere Reserve Law, approved in 2023 by the Balearic Parliament. Nine months ago, last June, the Consell (Island Council) presented the study that was supposed to determine the number of excess vehicles on the road network. The conclusion surprised everyone, as it set the limit at 120,000 cars, while the maximum daily traffic recorded on Menorca's roads in 2024 was 122,170 vehicles, only 1.8% above this limit.

Víctor Madera Núñez (Oviedo, 1961) has been the talk of the town for several years now. The president of Quirón has become the leading magnate of private healthcare in Spain, benefiting from urban development plans to build a private hospital in Madrid as much as he salvages castles, mansions, and estates from ruins across the country. From his native Asturias to the Balearic Islands, where he has already acquired dozens of properties over the last decade. Madera, considered the main landowner in Menorca, has transformed himself into a real estate tycoon since, nine years ago, he sold Quirón Salud, the largest private hospital group in Spain, to the German company Fresenius Helios, the largest healthcare group in Europe. The deal was closed for 5.76 billion euros, of which 450 million went directly to the Asturian doctor. Married and a father of four, he has not even come close to disengaging from this company, of which he is the non-executive chairman. Quirón currently manages more than 80 hospitals and day centers, employing 35,000 people.

Vueling carries nearly a million passengers each year between Menorca and Barcelona, ​​but is cutting its flight frequencies because it claims the numbers don't add up. Even so, the route carries three times the traffic of the other busiest routes to Menorca Airport: Palma and Madrid, which handle close to 390,000 and 380,000 passengers, respectively. Both routes are maintained during the winter thanks to a subsidy from the Ministry of Transport, which declared them Public Service Obligations (PSOs) to guarantee the minimum necessary frequencies. Now, the unexpected reduction in connectivity with Barcelona—up to 36% compared to last year—has reignited the debate. Is the PSO the solution to protect the most essential air connection for Menorcans?

As a child, Antoni Escandell wanted to be Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente and work with him. A dream that the tragic plane crash suffered by the Burgos-born broadcaster in Alaska in 1980 thwarted, but which only served as the impetus that confirmed the true vocation of the Menorcan naturalist and filmmaker. "My parents and family have always said that by the age of three I already had a keen interest in wildlife, birds, and biodiversity," explains Escandell, who at 63 is still motivated to promote audiovisual and educational projects about nature. The latest, launched at the turn of the year, is called faunix.tv, a free platform where he shares much of his knowledge and material recorded over decades. From the 65 episodes of the wild Balearic Islands from IB3 in the documentaries broadcast by TV3, the Castaways of Evolution about the endemic lizard of Aire Island, doubly awarded in the United States and the Life in cold bloodFilmed in collaboration with Richard Attenborough for the BBC, among others.

Seven years and four months after the power outage that left Menorca literally in the dark and without electricity for 56 hours, Red Eléctrica has begun the administrative process to install the second submarine cable to Mallorca. Starting in 2030, this cable will definitively reinforce the island's electrical system, restoring power throughout the day and even allowing for...

Let's Do It in Catalan has convinced the Ibiza Town Council to make the street and avenue signs strictly in Catalan and not in a bilingual format, as the Council initially intended. The announcement published on the contracting platform specified, in fact, that the "supply and installation of signs to indicate the name of the streets" had to be in both official languages ​​of the Autonomous Community.

Menorca, known as the island of wind, has failed to capitalize on its wind power potential in the last year. For the first time in a quarter of a century, production of this type of renewable energy has been virtually nil, while the installation of solar farms across the island continues to grow. The data recently updated by the Menorca Socio-Environmental Observatory (Obsam) makes this clear. Renewable energy generation has seen a significant increase since 2023, following the commissioning of the Son Salomó solar park in Ciutadella and the recent connection of the Agrisolar plant in Mercadal, but it still falls short of the targets set by the Menorca 2030 Strategy. Last year, renewables contributed 8% of the energy connected to the grid, when they should already account for 54%, reaching 85% by 2030. Nevertheless, the percentage is trending upwards, with the largest park on the island (Menorca Solar, 87 MW) under construction, while dependence on the Maó thermal power plant is decreasing.

Más por Menorca made its final attempt this Thursday to legally halt construction of the half-built viaduct in front of the Rafal Rubí archaeological site. The Popular Party government on the Island Council insists on pushing the project through despite warnings from UNESCO. Councilors Noemí García and Esteve Barceló from Más por Menorca have submitted a request for a legal report on the legality of the two-level roundabout project that threatens the prehistoric navetas (pyramids) of Rafal Rubí. The request is justified by the detection of "regulatory non-compliance" regarding the heritage and landscape impact assessment, which also fails to meet the commitments stemming from the declaration of Talayotic Menorca as a World Heritage Site. The construction company has already signed the contract

The initiative by Més per Menorca comes just as the winning consortium, formed by Copcisa, Juan Mora, and M. Polo, is about to begin construction between kilometer markers 5.7 and 7.7 of the main road between Alaior and Maó. In fact, the contract, formalized on January 23, commits them to carry out the project over eleven months with a budget of €6,576,525.64. However, Más doubts that the heritage impact assessment included in the file meets the standards required by regulations and the technical criteria established by UNESCO and ICOMOS for properties declared World Heritage Sites. He also notes the absence of the mandatory and binding report on landscape impact and integration, which would violate the provisions of the Menorca Island Territorial Plan (PTI).

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The Menorcan councilor Gonella has managed to unite everyone in opposition to his new language regulations. Only the organization he headed before entering politics, Sa Fundació, has expressed support. Conversely, the regulations, which introduce Spanish and prioritize Menorcan over Catalan in Menorca's highest institution, have prompted a flood of objections from organizations, political parties, and citizens alike, all responding to the public call to get involved in defending the unity of the language.

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Internal resistance to the new right-wing policies is growing in the Menorca Island Council. Virtually since the beginning of its term, the PP's governing actions have been questioned—with good reason—by the institution's own staff, leading Adolfo Vilafranca's team to seek the necessary support outside the council, support it is not receiving internally.

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Each resident of Menorca will pay an average of €937 in taxes and fees to their local council this year. This figure is growing year after year, driven by the increase in public services and the need for local government to increase current revenue to cover the expenses of running the municipal machinery. The largest expense is personnel costs. Up to €603 of each taxpayer's contribution, almost two-thirds of the total, will go towards paying the salaries of the more than one thousand civil servants and public employees who work in local government in Menorca. Personnel costs, which until a few years ago rarely exceeded 30% of the municipal budget, are now approaching 40% in many cases. The growing needs of the population, especially in home care and social services, and, above all, the mandatory regulation of positions within the administration, explain this increase. At least three of the island's eight municipalities—Ciutadella, Es Mercadal, and Alaior—are beginning to implement this year the Job Classification System (RPT), negotiated over a decade ago with union representatives to accurately reflect the functions each employee performs. This "getting our house in order," as Ciutadella Mayor Llorenç Ferrer puts it, will entail an extraordinary expenditure of €2.7 million for the municipality starting in 2027. This, combined with the professional development component of the RPT, must be permanently incorporated into the municipal budget. "During 2026, we must work to secure new or increased sources of current revenue to sustain these commitments," the mayor added. In 2027, the manure ordinance will be increased, and other "outdated" fees will be revised upwards. Increased revenue from building permits is also expected. This is in addition to the measures already implemented this year, with increases in sewage, slaughterhouse, and towing fees, as well as the motor vehicle tax. Another half a million euros will be collected in property tax (IBI), and the recent transfer of tax management to the Balearic Islands Tax Agency (ATIB) is expected to boost revenue from traffic fines, including the installation of mobile speed cameras to catch more drivers committing infractions. Even so, per capita spending on personnel in Ciutadella will still be the lowest of the island's eight municipalities this year, at 519 euros per inhabitant. The City Council will allocate nearly 17 million euros, just a portion of the almost 31 million euros it expects to collect in taxes and fees. Spending in this area will indeed be above the Menorca average, as each resident will pay €947 in municipal taxes. The other two municipalities that will also implement the Employment Position List will likewise require their residents to pay more taxes. Es Mercadal, which allocates €4.1 million of its €13.2 million budget to personnel, expects to collect €8.5 million in taxes, an average of €1,315 per inhabitant. Apuesta has increased its personnel budget by 18.7%. Alaior, which has almost double the population of Es Mercadal, has also increased its budget, but will collect only slightly more in fees and taxes, €8.7 million, at a rate of €848 per citizen.

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Menorca is the Balearic island where Catalan is most widely spoken in the streets and where the most families choose it as the primary language of instruction in schools, but it is also where it is now most threatened by the government. The People's Party's (PP) strategic alliance with representatives expelled from Vox and the appointment of the former director of Sa Fundació, the organization that denies the unity of the Catalan language, as Minister of Culture have provoked a gradual struggle against standard Catalan. This is a decision that no one in Menorca had ever questioned, not even the People's Party.

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