Aena is not the problem. The airports don't want to, and don't have, gates.
The privatization of 49% of Aena in 2015 is not mentioned, although it should be the first issue to be addressed.
PalmIn September 2025, a non-binding resolution from the People's Party (PP) regarding airports was approved, as well as a proposed organic law, initiated by the MÉS parties for Mallorca and Menorca, for the creation of an Airport Authority for the Balearic Islands, which is currently under parliamentary review. However, in my opinion, this debate is neither serious nor objective. Airport management is a complex issue that cannot be analyzed or addressed based on prejudice or simplistic assumptions.
Aena is the world's leading airport operator and handles 10.8% of Spain's GDP, according to an INCOSA study. Over the last decade, Aena has become the most successful European air transport model; it excels in terms of demand, quality, and efficiency. Aena is a majority state-owned company and is the sixth largest publicly traded company in Spain. From 2015 to 2023, Aena paid its shareholders €4.857 billion, of which 51% (€2.477 billion) went to the State as the majority shareholder. And a fact that few know: Aena receives no funding from the State, as it is self-financing. Unlike roads, trains, schools, or hospitals, which are paid for through our taxes, Aena's airports, under the current model, cost us nothing and, moreover, contribute a significant amount of revenue to the State. These figures would be impossible if Aena were not a state-owned, publicly funded company. Aena's airport fees are the cheapest in Europe. At the beginning of 2025, the average long-haul fee was €18 per passenger; in Menorca and Ibiza, €11; and in Mallorca, €12, compared to €21 in Florence and Athens, to give some examples. If we consider short- and medium-haul routes—with an average cost of €14—the cost in Menorca and Ibiza was €7, while in Palma it was €8, compared to €16 in Athens or €15 in Florence. These rates could not be sustained if we dismantle Aena's state-run model. Investments in the Balearic Islands' airports from 2017 to 2026 total €741.73 million: €608.83 million for Son Sant Joan, €95.69 million for Ibiza, €34.75 million for Menorca, and €1.84 million for Son Bonet. Could the regional government maintain this level of investment?
Regional Management
With airport management or co-management, connectivity will improve, they say, but the airports don't want it; it's the airlines, private companies that obey the interests and criteria of their boards of directors, that do. Connectivity would surely worsen, because an entity like Aena has greater negotiating power than an airport managed at a local or regional level.
Others say that with regional management, the public or social interest will prevail. Management isn't better depending on whether the decision-making center is closer or farther away. Many years ago, residents of Fornells demanded independence from the El Mercadal Town Council; the left in general, and the PSM in particular, opposed it. Is a Port Authority (APB) with regional participation better than Aena? We can ask Es Jonquet, the mooring users' association, which protested against the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) and the privatization of port services in September 2025, or the organizations protesting the number of cruise ships, or the GOB (Balearic Ornithological Group), which has denounced the lack of transparency in some nautical projects.
It is said that with regional management, we will have "the keys" (as if airports had gates) and we will be able to limit the number of flights. But that's not true; Aena (the Spanish airport authority) doesn't decide the slotsFlight slots are not something a local authority would do. In Europe, this is regulated by EEC Regulation No. 95/93, and in Spain, since 2014, AEFCA, an independent body, has determined flight slots based on the capacity declared by each airport and the historical rights of the airlines.
Political and social forces blame Aena for overtourism. But is this true? In my opinion, no. Tourism (this year the Menorca Island Council has announced it will attend 42 trade fairs to promote the island) and urban planning powers belong to the regional government, Island Councils, or municipalities, and in exercising their powers, they have permitted the construction of hotels and apartments, the legalization of rural properties, and the conversion of farms and outposts into agritourism establishments. It is the local and regional governments that have jurisdiction over housing and can intervene in the housing market, rental prices, illegal supply, etc. It is the constant increase in these spaces and the promotion of tourism that makes more airlines (which are private) interested in increasing flights to our airports. But it's easier to blame Aena than to accept that it is we, the people who live here, who every four years elect with our vote the parties that govern our institutions. They are the ones who design the territorial, economic, and urban planning model; they are the ones truly responsible.
Curiously, the privatization of 49% of Aena in 2015 is not mentioned in this debate, when it should be the first issue on the table if we truly want to ensure airport management with social and environmental considerations. The rest is just empty talk. Aena is not the problem; nor is a Balearic Airport Authority the solution.
