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.

Almost all monarchs have had a distinctive nickname –like ‘the Emeritus’, in our times– and Alfonso, sovereign of the Crown of Aragon and, therefore, of the Balearic Islands, between 1416 and 1458, has gone down in history as ‘the Magnanimous’. Was he, really? It is now 575 years since the eternal fine that, with the king’s full powers, the governor of Mallorca imposed on the Part Forana, on April 9, 1451, for revolting against the injustices they suffered. Not much magnanimity there.

The Balearic Government is working on a new label, "Product Made in the Balearic Islands," which will allow manufacturers to promote their products made in the Islands, even if they use materials and raw materials from elsewhere. The initiative comes after current regulations on local products require that at least 50% of the ingredients be from the Islands for a product to bear the "Product of the Balearic Islands" label. This criterion, which many in the production sector fully understand, excludes many products made in the archipelago but with raw materials from elsewhere. This is the case, for example, with certain cheeses made with imported milk, cookies made with foreign flour, and traditional almond and coffee products that are made with imported ingredients. Although these products have a manufacturing process entirely rooted in the Islands, current regulations prevent them from obtaining official recognition as local products. According to the Director General of Industry, Alfons Gómez, the Balearic Government has made significant progress on the draft of the new seal, which "will allow, for example, a bleach producer to highlight that the process was carried out in the Islands, even if the ingredients used are not." In such a small territory, "it's not easy for raw materials to come from the Balearic Islands, but if processors add value, as is the case with many well-known brands, it's absurd that this cannot be recognized," he told ARA Baleares. "It's possible to differentiate between products with local ingredients and products made in the Islands, with a transparent system that reflects the production phase that does take place in the archipelago," he added. The measure aims to recognize and promote industrial and artisanal activity in the Balearic Islands and make it easier for consumers to identify products made in the Islands, even if they don't meet the 50% local ingredient requirement. It also aims to enhance the visibility of the work of local producers and boost the food and manufacturing industry of the Archipelago. considered by most experts as a catalyst for change in the current economic model, based on tourism monoculture.

Until the 1970s, one in three workers in the Balearic Islands was employed in industry. The islands manufactured a large part of what they used and even exported to mainland Spain and abroad. Today, the figures are different and show how this sector, considered strategic and essential for creating quality jobs, is practically negligible in the overall economy and continues to lose ground. Tourism has become so dominant that, at best, industry represents 5% of economic activity. According to data from the Balearic Government, which uses less restrictive parameters, there are approximately 6,000 companies. According to the Impulsa Foundation database, the figure is less than 700.

Little by little, without much noise, traditional cuisine of the Balearic Islands It's fading away. It's not happening for a single reason or overnight, but as a consequence of a profound change in how we live, eat, and relate to time. Globalization, the culture of immediacy, and a fast-paced diet have been displacing a cuisine that requires slow cooking, patience, and oral tradition. This has led to the disappearance of part of the culinary vocabulary and linguistic heritage that has defined the cultural identity of the Balearic Islands for centuries. Words that once circulated naturally in the islands' kitchens are increasingly unfamiliar to younger generations, reflecting how the disappearance of traditional dishes is accompanied by the loss of language and cultural knowledge.

When Romina received her degree in digital communication in Argentina, she went out into the street in costume with her friends and they threw "eggs and a mix of things" at her to celebrate what they call "the received"for the achievement. She imagines, repeatedly, that such a scene is repeated; a fantasy of reliving it the day that obtain legal residency in Spain. She is 32 years old. She arrived in Palma almost three years ago, fleeing instability and a lack of opportunities in her country. Since landing, nothing has been as she imagined. "You always come with illusions that mask reality. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but not that it would be this difficult. They don't recommend anyone come without papers. It's living 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with constant uncertainty and frustration," she admits.