Concern among companies? Fear of possible disturbances to public order? Coincidence with an election period? Nothing new. There has been all of that, and more, in the successive general strikes that have taken place in the Islands over time, one of which even lasted not one, but ten days. We recall these episodes as one of these total work stoppages has been called, across the State, for the upcoming November 11th, shortly before the general elections.

The Crown of Aragon: this is the shared history of centuries that the president of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohens, reclaimed last October 15th, when the board of the Poblet monastery met for the first time in fifteen years, shared with Catalonia, the Valencian Country, and Aragon, and responsible for the management of this space, a pantheon of the common sovereigns. Well, yes. Or no? The truth is that the Balearic Islands were systematically sidelined –what a surprise!– throughout their membership in this confederation, practically during all the time they were part of it.

The leadership of Ara Més is putting different names on the table to head the candidacy for the general elections on November 29th. The result will be submitted to a vote in the assemblies of the different formations that make it up during the coming weeks.

The PP voted this Tuesday at the Parliament plenary session against a PSIB bill that established the mechanism for town councils to request the declaration of a stressed zone and limit rental prices. So far, this fits the measures defended by Marga Prohens' party, which bets on increasing housing supply as a mechanism to lower prices, even though the cost escalation does not stop (the Socialists speak of a 30% increase in rent and a 40% increase in purchase price since the beginning of the legislature). A clarification: the initiative did not imply that the Government would make any declaration of a stressed zone, but rather allowed town councils to declare their municipalities as such. This is precisely the path that the Xunta of the Popular Party's Alfonso Rueda found to apply the State Housing Law in Galicia, a measure that town councils like A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela had demanded. In fact, the text of the PSIB's proposal is based precisely on the Galician model, and this is the model that the Balearic PP has rejected at the Parliament plenary session, where it was not even taken into consideration (Vox also voted against it), so the processing that would have allowed for amendments and negotiations was not opened.

“New York, New York!”, sang Frank Sinatra with his bass-baritone voice and exultant enthusiasm. With the same joy, or more, the news of the new direct flight between El Codolar and New York, specifically with Newark airport, about 24 kilometers from the city, has been received by the Ibizan tourism sector. “Great news for Ibiza”, said the Ibizan Council; a valuation that has been replicated by the Tourism Board, hoteliers, and travel agencies. It is certainly a remarkable fact that an airport named after a pebble beach connects directly with a city of 8.8 million inhabitants, one of the cultural capitals of the world; about 22 million people live in the New York metropolitan area, a figure that helps us calibrate the potential of the destination. The new route will begin in June 2027 with four weekly flights; tickets can already be purchased on the United Airlines website starting at 587 euros, prices that quickly climb towards 1,000 euros or more as the season progresses.

Real estate ownership is concentrating in fewer hands in the Balearic Islands. Official data confirm that owners of a single house or apartment are becoming fewer and, like pure communicating vessels, the group of multi-property owners is increasing. In less than two decades, the proportion of cadastral holders with a single urban property has gone from 64.78% in 2007 to 54.61% in 2026. Meanwhile, all brackets of multi-property owners up to 25 properties per person are growing, and the jump is especially pronounced among small and medium-sized holders.

The tourist train continues at full steam in the Balearic Islands, despite citizen protests and political promises and laments. There isn't a year that the Islands don't break records since the pandemic ended, and the data suggests this year will be no exception. This Tuesday, Ibestat released the tourist data up to July: 11,189,324 people, 1.77% more than in the same period last year (from January to July 2025 there were approximately 10,995,000 tourists).

The headquarters of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sports, in Palma, woke up this Friday with graffiti on its facade that read the message "Tourism kills". The inscription has already been removed by cleaning services before midday.

Since the eighties and, one could say, since the nineties, island rock had not been as young as it is now. It had aged. Adolescent bands that had not yet reached their twenties were either nonexistent or anecdotal.

The Government presented this Thursday the public safety and forest protection measures planned for the total solar eclipse that will take place on August 12. These actions include the shielding of the Serra de Tramuntana and the most sensitive natural areas, as well as the launch of 26 official observation zones (ZOO) distributed throughout the Balearic Islands so that this exceptional phenomenon can be experienced with the maximum safety guarantees.

“Everyone who comes to Mallorca and wants to take a typical souvenir: let them take a cyclist, there are many... To a whore's house, the bicycle!”. This is how Lluc Aparicio (@parisioproductions) ironically states in an Instagram video that has over 26,700 likes and nearly 10,000 shares. The publication accumulates hundreds of comments, some very harsh. “There are always people who get angry, but I don't want to pay attention to them. They criticize me if I talk about tourist saturation and also if I speak Catalan, but they are people who don't understand that I'm doing humor,” he explains.

The Balearic Islands continue to transform demographically. Almost half of the resident population of the Archipelago was born outside the Islands, either in another autonomous community or abroad, according to the Report on the Economy, Work and Society of the Balearic Islands 2025, prepared by the Economic and Social Council (CES). The report also warns that sustained population growth exacerbates challenges such as access to housing, pressure on public services, and the aging of society.

The Network of Alternative and Solidarity Economy of the Balearic Islands (REAS Balears) generated an economic activity of 27.4 million euros in 2025, representing an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. As explained this Monday by the president of REAS Balears, Maria Jaume, during the presentation of the entity's annual report, the 13 organizations that make up the network maintained 558 jobs throughout the past fiscal year.

Marga Prohens' Government cannot be blamed for decades of saturation. However, the social and environmental movements calling for this summer's demonstrations – Menorca is giving the lead – consider that “it cannot be stated that they have taken a single real containment measure, not even to mitigate the impacts,” according to UIB geographer Macià Blázquez.

The unknown about whether the sky will be clear for the total solar eclipse that will occur in just two months cannot be resolved until "the trend" is seen a week before, points out in an interview with EFE the doctor in Physical Sciences and meteorologist Mar Gómez, who warns that August is a hot month. "I would love to give you an answer about the weather forecast for that day, but the truth is we don't know, because it is reliable a few days in advance," explained the meteorological director of eltiempo.es.

The entities in the Balearic Islands dedicated to the collection, classification, and reuse of used clothing warn of an unprecedented collapse situation. The constant increase in the volume of textiles collected, the low quality of the garments, and the application of new municipal collection obligations are putting the viability of these social initiatives and the jobs linked to the labor insertion of people in situations of social exclusion at risk. Faced with this scenario, the Network of Alternative and Solidarity Economy REAS Balears has launched a campaign of denunciation and awareness under the slogan 'The clothes containers have a social impact. Using them well adds a lot', with the aim of seeking the complicity of citizens and raising awareness. "Social entities are assuming increasing costs derived from a consumption model that encourages compulsive buying and low-quality garments. If there is no coordinated response between administrations, entities, and citizens, the situation will be unsustainable," states Maria Jaume, president of REAS Balears. "We are developing a dual function, environmental and social. We prevent tons of textiles from ending up as waste, but we also generate socio-labor insertion pathways for people in situations of social exclusion," she adds.

One more summer, the cultural agendas of the Balearic Islands multiply their capacity between June and September with the arrival of dozens of cycles and festivals that lead to hundreds of concerts that, with so much competition, do not always achieve the expected diffusion and often end up buried by the avalanche of parallel proposals. We have asked performers, critics, and music managers to help us make a selection of essential live performances. The selection that has emerged goes through Mallorca, Menorca, and Formentera – in Ibiza, electronics monopolizes the summer musical programming – and includes proposals of all styles and for all tastes, from Celtas Cortos to La Zowi, passing through Antònia Font and the Symphony.

The water reserves of the Balearic Islands are at 54% in March, four points below February, but slightly above the figure for the same month last year (52%). According to the Ministry of the Water Cycle, the trend is uneven across islands and territories, with general decreases despite a notable episode of rain.

The water reserves of the Balearic Islands stand at 54% in March, four points below February, but slightly above the figure for the same month last year (52%). As reported by the Ministry of the Water Cycle, the trend is uneven across islands and territories, with general decreases despite a significant rainfall event.