Less productive land and fewer professionals
Since 1982, half of the islands' farms have been lost.
PalmAccording to the report prepared by the organic farmers' group that has been most critical of the new agrarian law, there are only about 5,000 professional farmers left in the Islands, and the registered farms—in all categories—number no more than 15,000. In 1982, there were more than double the current number, with 31,835 active farms. "We are aware that we cannot recover the figures of the 1980s. However, the new law before us consolidates the process and the trend. It is the definitive renunciation of maintaining decent agricultural activity," they state in the documentation provided to amend the bill.
According to data collected by ARA Baleares, in just ten years, the Balearic countryside has suffered an alarming decline. Between 2013 and 2023, the islands have lost nearly 28,500 hectares of usable agricultural land, a decline that parallels the disappearance of almost 1,700 farms. This double loss represents an approximate 16% reduction in both arable land and the number of active farms, a clear indicator of the structural crisis affecting the primary sector in the archipelago.
The data reflect a sustained process of dismantling the traditional agricultural fabric, marked by land abandonment, a lack of generational relevance, and growing pressure on rural land, often revalued for non-agricultural uses. The trend is worsening in a context of drought, rising costs, and increasingly accentuated external food dependence.
Some experts have said on more than one occasion that the sector "cannot survive without aid" because the size of small island farms makes its viability impossible. Hence, the government believes it is important to further promote direct sales and promotional campaigns, and the sector appears to be in agreement on this point. However, the strong disagreement once again arises regarding territorial and urban planning issues, as the government is pushing for more tourists and leisure activities, and many farmers consider it the definitive death of the countryside.
