<![CDATA[Ara Balears in English - Economy]]> 10 <![CDATA["Work is the only calling effect there is"]]>

The economist Miquel Puig is one of the authors of the Fenix Report, critical of Catalonia's productive structure, and especially of the tourism model that creates low-wage jobs. This Tuesday he presented it, accompanied by the Menorcan economist Guillem López Casasnovas, in Palma.

]]> <![CDATA[The Civil Society Forum proposes taxing large fortunes to drive a change in the economic model]]>

The Civil Society Forum presented a document this Wednesday to define the future economic model of the Balearic Islands. The text, which will be debated at the congress on November 13, advocates for a reduction in the weight of tourism in the Balearic economy and proposes measures to favor productive diversification, including the creation of a tax on large fortunes that, according to the Forum's own calculations, could raise up to 325 million euros annually.

]]> <![CDATA[And if the worst invasive species were neither an animal nor a plant?]]>

On May 17, 2003, Environmental agents removed the first snake in Ibiza, a horseshoe snake specimen that a gardener found while watering olive trees that had arrived from Andalusia. Two weeks later, a second specimen appeared, this time a white snake, and three more were removed that same year. That is to say, it all started 23 years ago and, since the first case, the arrival of snakes could be linked to the entry of olive trees through luxury villas. But two decades have passed and the olive trees still come in, because nurseries want to keep making money and because our politicians are afraid of setting limits to the lack of control, lest the neo-capitalist mafia system that dominates the island kicks them out of their seats. The snake invasion is much more than a biological invasion; it is a symptom. The symptom of an island that has lost its way. It is difficult to find a more precise metaphor for what is happening, because, in the end, what is behind it is an economic model that exploits Ibiza without control, which corners and expels the people of Ibiza, whether they are lizards or human beings.

]]> <![CDATA[Aporophobic policies]]> When at the end of the 90s Attac warned about the consequences of the financialization of the economy, we could not yet guess how far the destructive power of today's digital and financial capitalism would go.Saskia Sassen already announced the evolution of the economic system towards a massive extractive capitalism (Expulsions, 2014). In the 20th century, the economy was based on the production of material goods and it was necessary to have citizens with the economic capacity to acquire them, which is why the political axis was inclusion, the welfare state. On the contrary, in a world where profit comes from financial speculation, people have ceased to have value as producers and consumers, and worrying about the welfare of the middle and lower classes is a waste of resources. Thus, the system now pivots around a radical logic of massive exclusion or expulsion of a large part of the population to the margins of the system. The current configuration of financial capitalism no longer generates generalized well-being, but rather the growth of inequality. While some elites enrich themselves disproportionately, the working and middle classes are being displaced towards precariousness and impoverishment. To austerity policies and reduction of public services, unemployment, and the loss of labor rights, is added the dynamic of financial capital which, in order to continue expanding, needs to commodify and appropriate the basic goods and services of life, such as housing, healthcare, education, and pensions, and cause their scarcity or elitization. The consequences of this economic evolution are incompatible with the cultural framework that has governed us since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN (1948). To affirm that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and […] should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood” has a revolutionary scope today, because capitalism needs to expropriate and undermine lives and rights to extract value.The far-right is the instrument of extractive capitalism not only to promote its deregulatory proposals and suppressors of rights and guarantees in various areas of life, but also to generate in society another mental framework that facilitates the advancement of these expropriatory economic and social policies, not only without citizen resistance, but with acceptance and adhesion, by influencing schools, education, culture, and the media. As E. J. Díez says, “neoliberalism and neofascism constitute two inseparable expressions of the same current configuration of the capitalist system”. Thus, the far right generates and generalizes discourses that break the basic consensus of equal rights based on human dignity, and legitimizes inequality and restriction of rights to some groups. Rights? Not for everyone. The far right points the finger at those who are already in an initially disadvantaged situation to accentuate it. Their apparent fight is against feminism, against migrants, against the most excluded social sectors, making them appear as culprits of economic and social problems or scarcity to justify their expulsion from the welfare system, while the real culprits are hidden. Starting to cut rights first for some, in the future for many more. In this context of growing social exclusion, aporophobic policies emerge, executed wherever the far-right and its follower right-wing parties govern, including on our island. When Mrs. Prohens, president of the CAIB, opposes the administrative regularization of migrants and says that “not everyone who arrives is a being of light,” she is saying that it is no longer enough to be a person to have rights; they are granted or not according to the power's pleasure and convenience. And in general, they are taken from the most disadvantaged. Why spend money on them? We see it nearby. For example, the massive deregistration of precarious residents in Palma, the refusal to register homeless people and caravanners. The harassment of homeless people. The dehumanization and criminalization of minors in transit to deprive them of their rights as minors. The suppression or restriction of benefits such as the guaranteed social income. The transfer of designated land (intended for services) to real estate developers with the excuse of a lack of housing. There is a future for everyone, but we must defend it today.

]]> <![CDATA[Mental health is also a matter of territory]]> When we talk about mental health, we often think of psychologists, psychiatrists, hospitals, and medication. All these resources are essential and necessary. But the reality is that mental health begins long before a person needs a consultation or treatment.Mental health also does not depend exclusively on biological or individual factors. There is growing scientific consensus that emotional well-being is influenced by the conditions in which we live: housing, working conditions, economic situation, social relationships, mobility, and the quality of the environment, among others. Mental health is also built, or deteriorated, from the factors that surround us every day.The World Health Organization has been insisting on this idea for years. The so-called social determinants of health have a decisive influence on people's well-being. Therefore, when we talk about mental health, we are also talking about housing, work, social cohesion, territory, and quality of life.In the Balearic Islands, this debate takes on special relevance. Tourism represents a fundamental part of our economy and generates thousands of direct and indirect jobs. Without tourism, the economic and social reality of our islands cannot be understood. In fact, activities directly or indirectly linked to the tourism sector represent 85% of our country's gross domestic product.Precisely because it is so important, we must be able to analyze all its impacts. Not only the economic benefits, but also the consequences it can have on the living conditions of the people who live and work here.In recent years, Mallorca has undergone a profound transformation. Each season breaks visitor records while a growing part of the population expresses concern about access to housing, mobility problems, congestion of public spaces, and the rising cost of living.These concerns are not just urban or economic issues. They are also health issues.Scientific literature shows that the perception of saturation, the loss of control over the daily environment, the difficulty in accessing basic resources, and the feeling of constant pressure on the territory can affect the quality of life and increase the stress levels of the resident population.The time we spend in a deadlock. The uncertainty regarding the renewal of a rental contract. The impossibility of accessing housing. The feeling that the spaces of our daily life are no longer accessible. None of these factors alone explains the mental health problems a person suffers from. But when they accumulate, they generate an emotional wear and tear that we cannot ignore.This debate is especially relevant if we consider the evolution of work absences related to mental health. According to recent data, absences for this reason have increased very significantly in recent years, while anxiety has consolidated as one of the main reasons for temporary incapacity, especially among young people.What impact do current living conditions have on this increase in emotional distress?There is no single answer or automatic relationship between tourism and mental health. It would be an unfair and incorrect simplification. But it would also be a mistake to ignore that the conditions arising from the pressure the territory endures can influence factors that science identifies as determinants of psychological well-being.For a long time we have measured the success of a territory through the number of visitors, overnight stays and the income generated. They are important indicators, but they are probably no longer sufficient.Perhaps the time has come to incorporate new questions into public debate. How does the economic model affect the quality of life of residents? How should we manage it? And within the scope of management, how do we incorporate the emotional well-being of people? How can we improve the living conditions of the people who live and work in Mallorca?When we talk about mental health, we don't just have to look at what's happening inside people. We also have to look at what's happening around them. And this includes housing, mobility, working conditions, the territorial model, and the pressure that an island like Mallorca endures.Talking about mental health is talking about rights, dignity, and quality of life. But it is also talking about housing, work, territory, and community.Because a healthy island is not just an island that generates wealth. It is also an island where you can live well.And the possibility of living well there is, probably, one of the best mental health policies we can build as a society.

]]> <![CDATA[The dream scenario]]> In the movie Dream Scenario they explained to us what happened when a normal person, a professor played by Nicolas Cage, became the most famous person on the planet. And not because he had done anything special: he simply started appearing in everyone's dreams. All the people in the world claimed, really or to not be left out, that they had seen Professor Matthews in their dreams, for others, a gray and forgettable character. Fame arrived in a way as gratuitous as it is currently arriving for Tim Payne, a football player from New Zealand participating in the current World Cup. Payne has done nothing to be famous; precisely, he is famous now because he wasn't. Or because he was the one with the fewest followers on social media in a team not very promising for victory (he has never won a match in a final phase). But Payne was the chosen one by an Argentine content creator to make him famous; he simply chose him and asked everyone to sympathize with him above the explosions of patriotic pride that usually underpin footballing passions. And yes, in a few days Payne went from being any footballer to having more followers on social networks than his own country has inhabitants, simply by a whim or idea of an influencer from the other side of the world, and in an even more arbitrary way than the professor in the film. In the current economy of attention, however, this is not an anecdote or a curious story. Just like in the film, the first thing the professor thought was how to take advantage of it, since nowadays having people's attention (knowing who you are and listening to you) is the main capital from which personal and collective economies can grow. So, needless to say, the footballer has gone all out; he has addressed his millions of new followers and has "thanked them for their support". Here's how the attention economy works: everything is based on capturing and maintaining people's attention, in whatever way possible, thanks to social networks, of course, which create new fame almost every day, with the same arbitrariness as dreams. Now that Payne has the attention of the masses, or of certain people on the planet, he will be able to capitalize on it: he will do advertisements, paid posts that millions of people will see, fame creates more fame and money will make more money. And it all starts from a whim or a gamble of the new digital gods, or from the frantic idleness of the new networked masses, who train themselves with the game of attention while yearning for something similar to happen to them. Or that, by a stroke of luck, some of their content goes viral; or they even do things, or live them, according to the performance they can get from them on the networks. But just like in Cage's movie, the tables can turn at any moment. The professor began to appear not in dreams but in nightmares, surrounded by blood and pain, and the infamy of being hated as gratuitously as he had previously been admired began.

]]> <![CDATA[Crisis and crisis]]> In November 2008, I finished writing this introduction for an article for the magazine Lluc with the same title, which was published in issue 867 of January-March 2009: “Not all crises have the same etiology. There are conjunctural crises, which once the storm has passed, disperse and the sun shines again. However, there are true tsunamis, that devastate everything in their path and require a significant task of reconstructing the economic, social, and institutional architecture that orders our lives. I understand that the current crisis is not a conjunctural crisis, but rather that we are facing a true structural crisis or 'crisis of regulation' that will change our social imaginary, productive structures, and institutions on a national and international scale”.I sensed that important changes were coming, but not on the scale of what has happened to us in these last seventeen years in terms of the impact of recent technological revolutions: intensive use of the internet by a new generation of mobile phones and the creation of new applications to manipulate public opinion on an unthinkable scale, social polarization and, above all, since covid and the emergence of generative AI, an enormous concentration of scientific, economic and political power in very few hands, which would make Marx himself pale with his law of the concentration of capital.The first major technological revolution was that of agriculture, 10,000 years BC. According to Cristian Canton, associate director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, the time until the massive social impact of the agricultural revolution took between 1000 and 4000 years. In terms of a technological system, it encompasses slavery and feudalism where wage labor does not exist and a few individuals concentrate maximum economic, political, and social power through the exclusive ownership of land and labor. Throughout this period until the modern age, writing and money were invented.With modern science and the Renaissance, Humanity moved towards the industrial revolution over a period that represents less than a tenth of the time it took for the agrarian revolution to achieve its massive impact. This period introduces revolutionary economic changes with the emergence of wage labor, capital accumulation, and leaving land rents in a marginal place. Not to mention the political and social sphere with the introduction of parliamentary democracies and the welfare state, without forgetting the scientific and technological advances: vaccination, printing press, aviation, electricity, railways, automobiles, telephones, antibiotics, nuclear energy, among others.And now we enter another major systemic change with generative AI, which has its precedent in the emergence of the web and the intensive use of the internet for more than twenty years now. Why is it a systemic change? Because the internet and its massive use to generate value through generative AI are at the base of the internet of things, robotization, financialization and tertiarization of the economy, and the geostrategy and security of states. And now all this is in a few hands that want to control everything, that is, power in capital letters and on a planetary scale. It is a revolutionary change that has come upon us suddenly at a surprising speed, less than ten percent of what it took to implement capitalism. As The Economist says in its latest issue of May 16: “Finally, humans could, like horses in the age of the car, become uneconomic. Incomes could go mostly or entirely to the owners of capital, who then spend it on things made by AI and robots using natural resources they monopolize. This dystopian possibility is behind the warnings from Silicon Valley that state intervention, and perhaps a Universal Basic Income (UBI), will be necessary”.It is not surprising that for this reason Pope Leo XIV signed, on Friday, May 15, his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas, on the protection of the human person in the era of artificial intelligence, where it is affirmed that the technological revolution of AI represents a social transformation of a magnitude comparable to that of the second industrial revolution.The dilemma is this: either a democratic way out of generative AI control by society and a UBI is proposed, or we can fall into capitalist neo-feudalism, that is, into a new barbarism where democracy and the control of capital and labor will once again fall into a few hands on a global scale.

]]> <![CDATA[You buy yourself many books!]]> The moment always comes when someone I know tells me, “You buy so many books!” Then the interrogation begins: if I read them all, how many do I have in the pile of unread books (‘the pile’ is an understatement, I have a shelf of unread books), what do I do when there’s no time for anything, why don’t I get them from the library, where do I put them, etc., etc., etc. Sometimes I’m in the mood and give explanations. Afterwards, I regret having justified myself. And it’s not about the books. It’s because they are my things, they don’t hurt anyone, and I like doing them.

]]> <![CDATA[70% of a family's salary is spent only on basic expenses, according to Consubal]]>

The cost of living in the Balearic Islands continues to put pressure on family economies. An average family of three members has to allocate nearly 70% of their salary to cover basic expenses, according to data from the Confederation of Consumers and Users of the Balearic Islands (Consubal), which warns of the growing vulnerability of many households in the archipelago.

]]> <![CDATA[When we grow too much: Keynes's lesson that the Balearic Islands cannot forget]]> In the Balearic Islands, we don't just have a growth problem. We have a problem with how we manage it. This debate is often presented as a discussion between more intervention or more market. But that's not the issue. The issue is when, how, and with what limits each policy is applied.John Maynard Keynes is remembered as the economist who advocated public intervention in times of crisis. But his central idea is more uncomfortable than is often presented: to be able to spend when everything is falling, you must first have been able to not spend when everything is growing. This is the part we have forgotten.In the years leading up to 2008, public revenue increased sharply. However, a significant portion of this income did not reflect structural economic growth, but rather an exceptional moment in the real estate cycle. The income was high, yes, but unstable. The problem was not spending. The problem was spending as if that income were permanent.This is not a one-off anomaly. It is a recurring pattern. When public revenues grow rapidly, the illusion is generated that more spending can be permanently sustained. But part of these revenues depends on exceptional factors – prices, credit, activity concentrated in certain sectors – that cannot be maintained over time. Spending, on the other hand, does remain. And this is where the problem begins.When the cycle turned, revenues plummeted as quickly as they had grown. And with them, the fiscal margin.At that moment, an expansionary policy was attempted to compensate for the fall in private demand. It was coherent. It was necessary. But it was not viable on the terms that the situation demanded.The increase in the deficit, market distrust, and tension over public debt forced a premature adjustment. Keynesian policy was interrupted ahead of schedule. And the cost was transferred to the real economy: job destruction, business closures, a deeper recession than would have occurred with sufficient fiscal margin.The theory had not failed. What had failed was the moment when it had been decided to be prudent.This pattern is not exceptional. It is recurrent. In expansion phases, extraordinary income is incorporated into the budget as if it were structural. Spending grows on this basis. And when the cycle reverses, the system is left without the capacity to respond.The problem is not ideological. It is institutional. No government –of whatever stripe– has incentives to contain spending when all is well. It is much easier to spend current income than to reserve room for future crises. But without this room, counter-cyclical policy becomes theoretical.In territories like the Balearic Islands, this dynamic is even more accentuated. A significant portion of public revenue depends on sectors very sensitive to the cycle, such as construction and tourism. This makes the good years very good… and the bad ones much more difficult to manage.The question is not whether the public sector should intervene in a crisis. It is whether it will have the real capacity to do so. And this capacity is not decided in the recession. It is decided in the good years.The debate about economic policy is often framed in terms of more or less intervention. But perhaps the relevant question is another: are we capable of designing rules that compel us to be prudent when we don't need to be? Because, without this discipline, fiscal space does not disappear by accident. It disappears by design. And then, when the crisis arrives, it is already too late.Being Keynesian is not just knowing when to intervene when the economy falls. It is knowing not to spend when the economy grows.

]]> <![CDATA[The families of Pla have saved 20.4 million with the elimination of inheritance taxes]]>

Up to 2,000 people or families from the 14 municipalities of Pla de Mallorca have saved a total of 20,412,525 euros since the Government of the Balearic Islands launched fiscal measures at the beginning of the legislature, such as the elimination of the inheritance tax or tax on inheritances, and the elimination of the property transfer tax on the purchase of the first habitual residence.

]]> <![CDATA[Why don't we change the economic model]]>

A group of magnificent columnists are writing collectively this week what many of us think: it is urgent to change the economic model of the Balearic Islands. We all understand that this implies reducing a few million tourists and starting to truly bet on the primary sector and industry.

]]> <![CDATA[Mallorca, getting out of the labyrinth (The essential change of the productive model)]]>

The media play a primary social role and, moreover, hold high democratic value because they contribute to the formation of public opinion. Based on this premise, out of a sense of responsibility and moved by feelings of esteem, respect, and service to the land and citizens of Mallorca, a group of contributors from the three print dailies published on the island (ARA Balears, ‘Diario de Mallorca’ and ‘Última Hora’) have come together to publish this article. The aim is to call upon all political parties, the bodies with the power to modify the current state of affairs – particularly, self-governing institutions and town councils –, as well as, in general, all economic and social powers, capable of conditioning and influencing decision-making, for a radical, progressive, and measured, yet firm, change in the current economic model.

]]> <![CDATA[Mallorca's hoteliers expect 70% occupancy this Easter.]]>

The Majorca Hotel Business Federation (FEHM), based on information gathered from hotel associations and affiliated chains, forecasts an average occupancy rate of around 70% for this Easter week, in line with last year's results. These forecasts come in an international context marked by geopolitical uncertainty, although the hotel sector highlighted the stability of tourist demand for Mallorca thanks to the strength of the destination. The hotel opening rate will reach 92%, two percentage points higher than last year, confirming the consolidation of the early season and the progressive expansion of the tourist calendar.

Sources at FEHM insist on the need to "remain cautious" given the current international context, marked by constant changes and a geopolitical situation that requires "continuous monitoring due to its effects on the economy and international mobility." They also reiterate the message conveyed during ITB Berlin, stating that "the sector's wish is for the armed conflicts and human suffering in both the Middle East and Ukraine to end as soon as possible."

]]> <![CDATA[Not only the what, but also the how]]> In my latest article, 'Beyond Growth', It argued that we live trapped in the capital-life conflict: a structural tension that transforms the economy into a machine of perpetual extraction while eroding the material and social foundations that sustain existence. This is the daily reality of an accelerated, precarious, and ecologically overwhelmed world, in which emergencies become chronic and politics often manages the symptoms while protecting the causes.

]]> <![CDATA[The Balearic Government will create a seal for products made in the Balearic Islands with ingredients from outside the islands.]]>

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.

]]> <![CDATA[Samuelson, Friedman and the politics of labels]]> Do we really believe that the economic problems of the 21st century can be solved by choosing between two T-shirts?

]]> <![CDATA[The frog inside the water bath]]> The Fitur tourism fair, Spain's main tourism trade fair, traditionally serves as a platform for the island authorities to present the season's results and boast about their achievements. This year's figures are particularly triumphant, if by triumph we mean having received more tourists than ever before—some 19 million, a new record. Congratulations! You can read the exact figures in the... Chronicle by Maria Llull for ARA Baleares.

]]> <![CDATA[Avoid the avoidable]]> The start of a new year is usually accompanied by numerous analyses and predictions about what will happen. In some cases, guessing is easy; in others, the uncertainty is almost absolute, especially regarding things beyond human control, like an earthquake. On the other hand, what depends on our will is easier to predict, and when something is going wrong, it should be avoidable, at least in theory. But not everyone understands this because there are events or processes that depend on our decisions and yet are perceived as inevitable.

]]> <![CDATA[The Balearic Islands account for nearly a quarter of Spain's private boat rental market.]]>

The Balearic Islands maintained their leading position as the main market for recreational boat registrations in Spain in 2025, despite a year-on-year decrease in activity, according to a market report prepared by ANEN using data from the Directorate General of the Merchant Marine. Of the 1,418 boat rental registrations nationwide, the Balearic Islands accounted for 321 vessels for this activity. Thus, the Balearic Islands lead the national market and concentrate nearly a quarter of the total charter market, despite experiencing a 23.2% drop. Following the Balearic Islands are Barcelona, ​​with 194 registered units, and Alicante, with 171.

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