The climate academy asks the Minister of Tourism to face saturation and stop attacking the bishop

PalmaThe Bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull, has found some of his main support among the environmental movement and entities linked to critical thinking in the face of the Government's criticism of his reflections on the tourism model. The Climate Academy joined Terraferida this Wednesday in defending the prelate, after the Minister of Tourism, Jaume Bauzà, accused him of hypocrisy for denouncing the excesses of tourism in a report published in ARA Balears. The Academy considers the minister's words "inappropriate for a public official" and demands that he abandon "personal attacks" and address the problems of saturation, housing, and territorial degradation. The controversy has sparked public alignment between the bishop's social discourse and the demands of environmental entities that question the effects of the Balearic economic model.

In a statement made public this November 4th, the Climate Academy expresses its support for Taltavull for having given voice to a concern it considers shared by a very broad segment of Mallorcan society: "Saturation, the degradation of the territory, and the growing difficulties of living with dignity on our island". According to the entity, speaking publicly about these problems, as the bishop has done, is defending Mallorca, the territory, and the people who live there.

The Academy maintains that the Government's response should consist of listening to these concerns and explaining what measures it plans to adopt to address them, instead of questioning those who express them. "Participating in an economic activity does not prevent pointing out its excesses nor asking that it respect the limits of the territory," it argues, in response to the minister's rebukes regarding the Church's tourism income.

The origin of the controversy: a report by ARA Balears

The confrontation has its origin in the report A bishop against tourist greed, published by Antoni Janer in ARA Balears on October 31st. In that report, Taltavull championed a pastoral letter that the three bishops of the Balearic Islands signed jointly in 1990 to denounce the degradation of the territory and the social consequences of uncontrolled tourism growth.

The document, titled Ecology and tourism in our Islands. Guidelines for Christian action, was drafted with the participation of Taltavull, then vicar general of Menorca, based on the contributions of some 800 people from different professional and social backgrounds. It was a pioneering reflection by the Balearic Church on the limits of economic growth and the environmental and human costs of tourism.

In statements to this newspaper, Taltavull recalled his commitment to the environmental mobilizations of the seventies and warned of the relevance of that pastoral letter thirty-six years later. "The capitalist system must be regulated so that people do not suffer so much," stated the bishop, who linked the protection of the landscape with the defense of the identity, language, and dignity of people.

The 1990 letter already warned of the construction fever, disorderly urban growth, and the subordination of the landscape to economic interests. Thirty-six years later, Taltavull considers that those concerns remain current and that to the environmental problems have been added the difficulties of access to housing and the precariousness of a part of the workforce.

The Climate Academy now recalls that Taltavull had already recently presented these reflections in a round table held at the Estudi General Lul·lià, as part of the entity's activities. Therefore, it rejects that his position is improvised and defends that his words give continuity to a historical concern of the Church of the Islands.

Bauzà reproaches him for the Church's tourism income

The minister's response arrived the same weekend the report was published via the social network X. Bauzà accused Taltavull of hypocrisy for denouncing tourism overcrowding while the Church obtains income from visitors arriving in Mallorca.

The head of Tourism reproached him for his criticisms regarding the presence of cyclists at the Lluc sanctuary and cruise ship passengers arriving in Palma, some of whom visit the Cathedral. He also put on the table the 268 places marketed at the Lluc sanctuary, which are the subject of an investigation for alleged irregularities. "Perhaps greed is easier to recognize when viewed from someone else's bell tower," the minister quipped.

Bauzà argued that the Church has the right to warn about the excesses of tourism, but considered that it should apply the same moral standard to the economic activities that generate its income. He also questioned Taltavull's prominence in the 1990 pastoral letter, recalling that the document was signed by the bishops of the time. The forcefulness of the response surprised even those within the Executive. According to sources from the Government who confirmed to ARA Balears, they acknowledged that the minister's message had not been previously coordinated.

Terraferida reproaches the minister for his silence regarding major tourism interests

Bauzà's words had already provoked a forceful response from Terraferida. The environmental organization denounced that the minister directed his harshness against the bishop while, according to the organization, he had not acted with the same forcefulness towards the major economic actors in the sector.

"The minister will have spent four years without making any criticism of investment funds, nor illegal tourist rentals, nor large hotel companies, nor anyone who makes money destroying Mallorca. Now, whoever dares to make the slightest criticism of the insane model we have will receive his wrath," warned Terraferida, as reported by ARA Balears in a piece by Jaume Perelló.

Terraferida's criticism focuses on a different issue than the one raised by Bauzà: not so much whether the Church obtains tourist income, but why the minister has reacted with such forcefulness against a voice that denounces the effects of the economic model. The Climate Academy has now joined this line of criticism. Regarding the Lluc case file, it argues that the alleged irregularities must be investigated and resolved with the same guarantees and requirements as those of any other tourist establishment. However, it considers that using this matter to discredit Taltavull diverts attention from the issues he had raised. "Using this file to disqualify a critical voice diverts the debate from the Government's responsibilities in tourism matters," the entity denounces.