Love at first sight that Menorcans make

CitadelMenorca has gained almost 7,000 inhabitants since the pandemic. The island now has 102,477 registered residents, and an increasing number of those born elsewhere are now living there. The tranquility and quality of life outweigh the drawbacks of seasonality and transportation due to the island's double insularity, and this is ultimately convincing many foreigners and mainlanders to settle there.

While the population is growing most in the two largest cities, Maó and, especially, Ciutadella, more and more new Menorcans arriving from abroad and mainland Spain are seeking smaller villages to settle in. For example, there's the difference between the 1,690 inhabitants of Migjorn Gran and the 1,081 of Fornells, where one can live year-round overlooking the sea and experiencing the distinct contrasts of seasonality.

Half of the domestic tourists who visit Menorca during peak season are Catalan, and this is also the origin of most of the non-native population that has settled on the island. Some have been living as Menorcans for decades. Marisa Álvarez and her husband, Óscar García, both biologists, came in 1997 directly from the area around the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. They were to participate in a bird migration project on Isla del Aire, but although they hadn't yet tried living together, the idea of residing surrounded by nature appealed to them. First in a secluded country house on the Fornells road and now in Castell. Three decades later, they are still amazed by the quality of life in Menorca. "If you come as a couple, look for peace and quiet, and find a job you like, there's no comparison," says Marisa. Her two daughters, aged 20 and 22, were also born on the island and lead such a Menorcan life that they already know what it's like to have to leave to study elsewhere.

A Dominican woman in Sant Climent

Edwin and his partner are from the Netherlands and have integrated so well into Sant Climent, a small village of 557 inhabitants two kilometers from Maó, that they even speak Catalan. María Rosa, who arrived in Sant Climent 27 years ago with a young man from Menorca she had met in the Bávaro area of the Dominican Republic, also joins the conversation. She hasn't returned since. "The village welcomed me wonderfully," she recalls. She's heard such good things about it that she took riding lessons at the Sa Creueta Equestrian Club so she could go out to the local festivals. She worked as a cashier for three years, and although she had to quit to work as a waitress during the season and take care of her daughter, she doesn't rule out returning. "I already feel more like a San Climent native than a Dominican," she says. "As they say here, Sant Climent is small, but it has everything."

Javi Ramos doesn't need much more either. Born in Barcelona and a regular summer visitor to Menorca since the age of six, where he used to come with his family, he has lived permanently on the island since September 2023, two years ago. "I was living with my partner, Aurélie, in northern Paris and we worked for a multinational company, but the pandemic opened our eyes," he says. The owner of the Okapi bar in Playas de Fornells, the urbanisation north of El Mercadal where he used to spend his summers, contacted him to offer him the business. "We discussed it as a couple, we thought it would be possible to have a different life in a place like Menorca, and we accepted the adventure. The truth is, we don't regret it at all. Because of my job, I've traveled all over the world, but I can assure you that I haven't found any place with the quality of life of Menorca," says Javier.

The "love at first sight" he felt for the island as a child has solidified and has also resonated with Aurélie, who doesn't miss her native Lille either. "We were both looking for a place where we could live peacefully, and we're delighted. We can work six months and take advantage of the other six to enjoy Menorca. We're still in the honeymoon phase."

Javi finds a special charm in the winters he spends in Playas de Fornells, "and if you want some action, you always have Ciutadella and Maó very close by. Out of season, the island has much more life and activity than I expected, and the climate is very mild. You rarely feel the strong tramontana winds that we..."

Contrary to the common perception that Menorcans are somewhat closed off, Javi says he received "a wonderful welcome. If you approach the locals directly, they help you integrate completely." In fact, this Barcelona businessman, who has fallen in love with the island, especially values "the commitment to not becoming another Ibiza and the control of tourism and overcrowding so that Menorca doesn't deteriorate. People should come, yes, but sustainably."

A life-changing therapy against cancer

The pandemic also prompted Lluís Martínez, his partner Miriam Boladeres, and their two daughters to leave Sant Just Desvern, a commuter town twenty minutes from the center of Barcelona, ​​and move to Menorca. But it was Miriam's precarious health, affected by breast cancer, that precipitated the move. "The oncologist told me that if I caught COVID, the problem could be serious. So, since we were already registered residents on the island, he encouraged me to go," she recalls. The idea was to spend only the summer, "but we never went back. Here we could overcome the restrictions and walk along the beach without any problem. In Barcelona, ​​locked up in an apartment, it would have been very different." Miriam finished her chemotherapy sessions in Barcelona and began radiotherapy at the Mateu Orfila Hospital in Maó. Their initial plan was to aid their recovery in Menorca and then return to Catalonia, where Lluís worked for a family hairdressing business. But they enrolled their daughters in the Mercadal school, sold their Barcelona apartment, and bought another in Fornells, where they have started their own business, Mir and me cosmetics.

"The big difference," he explains, "is the quality of life. Here, the daughters can go on Saturdays to windsurfThey can go out alone to walk their dogs or buy an ice cream. Safety is absolute. Everything is more family-oriented." He has no complaints either. "I spend all day glued to my phone, and in winter you can hardly find anywhere to go for a coffee, but I'm delighted. Even when we leave to see family, we end up playing the chorus early."

In a short time, they've internalized the Menorcan way of life so much that they say, "We also look at the tourists and wonder if they'll soon ruin the countryside," he laughs. But Lluís knows full well that "the real world my goods will encounter isn't this bubble." My eldest, who now attends high school in Ferreries, will have to leave for university, and I myself, who have to be in Oman in a couple of weeks, am already trying to coordinate my flights to Barcelona with my international flights so I don't have to spend the night before leaving. Everything has a solution, and honestly, even if I have to take more connecting flights, it's much more worthwhile to be able to walk peacefully to Salinas. When life hits you like a ton of bricks and confronts you with cancer, your values and priorities change abruptly. And yes, my daughters no longer attend the elite school in Barcelona where I had them enrolled, but a public school here, but Miriam has recovered. We couldn't be happier.