Teresa Ribera is the Spanish Minister of ecological transition and the demographic challenge. New ministerial titles have been adopted for the present and the future. It is no longer enough to simply refer to the environment. Ecological transition is a broader concept of sustainability.

So far, the demographic part of its portfolio (population challenge, if you prefer) has appeared secondary. But it is intimately linked to ecological transition and is currently the subject of extensive dissemination. The Secretary General of the Democratic Challenge, Francesc Boya, traveled to Palma to meet with the Balearic ministers who represent different aspects of this challenge – Rosario Sánchez (finance) and Miquel Mir (environment).

There is a lot of talk about depopulation in some parts of the continent. In the Balearics, it’s the opposite. There is talk of overcrowding, which leads to the specific challenges that Sánchez and Mir are concerned with, but this also applies to various other ministers, such as Josep Marí (housing) and Iago Negueruela (tourism). The floating population of tourists and seasonal workers is a major overcrowding problem.

Over the past thirty years, the population of the Balearic Islands has grown by just over 70% to reach 1.21 million. At its summer peak, the floating population has, in recent years, increased the number of people by over 80%. The strains are excellent and they will only increase. So where is the emphasis? A step forward, Sr. Negueruela (economic model as well as tourism). Boya said there was a need to tackle the “tourism monoculture”.