Celestí Alomar left us prematurely this week. Taking stock of his time heading the Ministry of Tourism of the Government of the Balearic Islands (1999-2003), I find that no predecessor or successor has achieved successes comparable to his.

Celestí Alomar has died at 76 years old and leaves a very large void as an era. He did and was many other things, but he will be remembered as the counselor who implemented the ecotax in the Balearic Islands. He did this during his time as Minister of Tourism of the first government of the Pacte de Progrés, a government that had to withstand the fiercest criticism during its existence –from adversaries, but also from those closest to them– and which now, 25 years later, many value and miss, and with good reason. The first Pacte de Progrés of the Balearic Islands governed from 1999 to 2003. In a short time, the deaths of President Francesc Antich and Vice-President Pere Sampol, and now Minister Celestí Alomar, represent the premature disappearance of three key figures in the recent political history of the country. I write 'premature' because, although all three were around or past seventy years old, the death of those who truly work for the common good is always premature.The Pacte de Progrés was the first progressive government that the Balearic Islands had and it was a pioneer in many things, here and in the Spanish state. The ecotax that Celestí Alomar promoted was ahead of its time in uniting tourism policies with serious environmental policies. Alomar understood this tax as a tool for self-government and social cohesion. It earned him a fatwa, a war from hoteliers, an economic sector with pretensions more of a caste than a lobby. 

There are people to whom a newspaper owes much more than the articles they have written, the advice they have given, and the contributions they have made. Celestí Alomar is, without a doubt, one of those people. We owe ARA Balears, above all, extraordinary generosity. As a member of the editorial board from the beginning, we always found in him an attentive gaze, sharp intelligence, and a willingness to help that was never forced or self-interested. His advice was good because it stemmed from a deep and sensible observation of reality. He also gifted us ideas, topics, questions, and analyses as lucid as they were accurate. And he did so with a naturalness that made his contribution even more valuable.

One evening, while dining together in Madrid, we looked at each other with a certain perplexity. Celestí Alomar was Director General of Tourism and I was Vice-Rector of the University. I don't know if we said it exactly like that, but we both must have thought more or less the same thing: what are we doing here? We had met many years before, when we were two lads from the Pla de Mallorca, he from Llubí and I from Sant Joan. And another scene came to our minds, also distant: Franco's bust emerging from the balcony of the Rectorate of the University of Barcelona towards the street. We had gone from all that to Madrid, with ties, positions, and responsibilities. "Two suited up youngsters," he said.

Celestí Alomar, former Minister of Tourism of the Balearic Government and one of the key figures of the first Pacte de Progrés, died this Monday at the age of 76. Alomar, born in Llubí in 1949, held the Ministry of Tourism between 1999 and 2003, during the first Government of Francesc Antich, and was one of the main promoters of the ecotax, after a strong confrontation with the hotel employers' association. Alomar, also a geographer, maintained an active presence in public debate on tourism, territory, and the economic future of the Islands until his final years, also as a columnist for ARA Balears as a columnist for ARA Balears.

This Sunday, Llubí paid tribute to the writer Guillem Frontera, one of the most prominent voices of Catalan literature in the Balearic Islands. The event was a space for remembrance and recognition of the author's literary and human legacy.