Joaquim Coello: "Menorca must avoid becoming a new Venice"

CitadelAn engineer with a distinguished professional career, including the presidency of the Port Authority of Barcelona and the Carulla Foundation, Joaquim Coello Brufau (Salamanca, 1946) outlines solutions for the Menorca he has seen evolve during 40 years of living among the islanders. In Ciutadella, where he has three houses, he opens the new academic year of the Círculo Artístico. Menorca has changed as much as the world. It has been invaded by tourists, and the infrastructure and natural spaces have reached their limits. You have to get up early to go to the beaches and take a bus to see the sunset from Punta Nati. Menorca is so at its limit that, if the number of visitors continues to increase, the territory will be destroyed.

The debate has been on the table among politicians for years. But even limiting vehicle entry is costing more than it seemed.

— It must be done! The arrival of planes, boats, rental cars, and foreign vehicles must be limited. It's urgent to extend the season to reduce the peak visitor rate. It's absolutely necessary, because otherwise, the natural heritage will be degraded, and the view of the island that tourists will later have will not be attractive.

Even though we've been a Biosphere Reserve since 1992 and a World Heritage Site since 2023, haven't we achieved this?

— It's not being considered seriously. And yet, today, there are many opportunities, such as remote work. Menorca has the opportunity to attract people who live here and work for a company located in Barcelona or Madrid. And it's recovering natural resources, such as wine, which was so important to the port of Mahon historically. We must moderate the peak intensity of incoming tourism.

Sun and sand are no longer the only selling point of promotional campaigns. Do you see any signs of diversification?

— Yes, it's starting to work. Just look at the number of art galleries that have opened in Menorca in just a few years, from King's Island to Mahon and Ciutadella. It's truly surprising that an island with just over 100,000 inhabitants has so much cultural offering, and that wealth should be promoted. Like gastronomy and hiking. The island should stop concentrating so many visitors at a specific time of year.

Limiting visitors has been on the agenda for some time, even during St. John's Day.

— Maritime frequencies should also be regulated during San Juan so that the festival doesn't lose its appeal. One model to avoid is Venice. A magnificent city that once housed 300,000 people and is now being abandoned by its residents because, with so many tourists, it's almost impossible to go out.

For now, Catalans will continue to come.

— On the contrary, more and more are coming. But one thing the island has done well is to prevent the construction of large hotels and instead focus on small city hotels, like those found in the center of Ciutadella, which offer a much more pleasant and sustainable offering. Everything must be viewed with a 30-year horizon. Ibiza is already damaged and it's difficult to recover, but in Menorca we still have time, and that's fortunate.

Menorca has two ports within just 50 kilometers. The Ciutadella seawall was inaugurated 15 years ago, and since then, the number of visitors arriving by sea has multiplied. What's your assessment?

— It was a good decision to build it in Son Blanc rather than in La Farola, in a more delicate area, where it wouldn't interfere with the city's growth or the charm of the inland port.

The debate now revolves around convincing Madrid and Aena not to expand the airport.

— It's important to achieve this, precisely to avoid the peaks that occur in summer. Furthermore, Menorca is a small island, and airplanes create noise and impact the environment, and Mahon is already suffering the consequences.

What's also ongoing in your city, Barcelona, ​​is the debate over how to expand El Prat Airport. What's your proposal?

— Unlike Menorca, the problem in Barcelona is not so much preventing traffic growth as maintaining the attractiveness of having the airport close to the city, something that doesn't happen in cities like London and Paris. El Prat Airport needs long-haul connections, intercontinental flights with Asia and America, which are the main sources of air cargo. In Europe, with such short distances, very little is transported. Barcelona, ​​for example, only transports half a million tons, when it should be accumulating 4 or 5 million. The solution would involve diverting some traffic to the airports of Girona and Reus, which are just over 35 minutes away by train, and providing El Prat Airport with a second, longer runway over the sea to complement the current interior runway, which measures 3.6 kilometers but is significantly underused.

Why haven't they considered your proposal?

— Because the opposite path has been chosen, that of continuing to increase passenger volume and instead of receiving 50 million people, it's now receiving 80 million. And the city is already so full of tourists that it can't even walk. Creating another terminal, when it already has two, is no solution. But what matters to Aena is continuing to grow its business. The 60% it collects at El Prat Airport is used for fares and rent for shops and restaurants. Some say that limiting flights won't prevent more people from coming, but I think it will. The more difficulties you create, the fewer visitors will come, and the tourist profile will be different, interested in culture or music, of higher quality.

The same debate in Menorca and Barcelona, ​​​​but with different magnitudes.

— Exactly. After the collapse of communism in 1989, it became clear that the economic model to follow had to be the free market. But this doesn't mean it shouldn't be regulated. Free economic flows must be controlled, following the social democratic model. Now, the most important thing is that we can all agree that tourism must have limits.

Do you think we are in Menorca?

— I think so. Of the islands, Menorca has done the best. It's true that citizens complain that it's difficult to obtain building permits, but this is because the territory has been well preserved.

The Balearic Islands not only receive tourists; they are also one of the regions of the country most affected by the migration phenomenon.

— Because current tourism generates low-level employment that attracts massive migration. Perhaps we should look more closely at the Basque Country model, which doesn't have this problem. Everything should be limited and regulated.