If there is a place where the linear production model (in which everything that is generated, after its consumption, is undone) seems outdated and inefficient, it is on an island. Circularity is in the DNA of those who, for centuries, have supplied, developed and defended themselves autonomously, aware of their resources and the need to protect what cannot be replaced in any other way: their unique natural heritage.
That look is transferred today to the field in which the Balearic Islands act as a reference: tourism. Their objective, a horizon they have been heading towards for years, is fully aligned with that set by the European Union: to transform their production system so that it is 100% sustainable. In this context, tourism is the engine of a development train that has promoted the Balearic Islands in a community of reference in well-being, innovation, harmony and progress. If there is any wagon with a ‘tractor’ vocation to drag the rest of the productive sectors towards a sustainable model, it is tourism. Their baggage, knowledge and experiences are the best ground on which to advance in an unavoidable race towards the protection of their best source of wealth: each one of their islands.
Balancing the awareness of ‘natural heritage’ with the entrepreneurial spirit of those who know their potential well is today the main challenge in a community that starts off with an advantage. It has the landscape, the culture, the climate, the location. Also the vision of the future of its entrepreneurs, the work well done by the workers for years and some visitors who have known how to value this whole complex since the beginning of the tourism phenomenon.
The Balearic Islands have all the ingredients, but for the formula for success to be successful over time and for the rest of the community, it is necessary to develop a circular framework that protects and watches over the interests of everyone and from all angles. angles: social, environmental and economic.
The community wants to take one more, unavoidable and necessary step, to integrate more and better all the factors that have led the Balearic Islands to be world leaders in the sector: the unparalleled tourist experience, the quality of work and working conditions and the comfort and well-being of the resident population.
In this sense, the new tourism law proposed by the Government of the Balearic Islands, called the Law for Circularity and Sustainability in Tourism, wants to be the spearhead of a new economy that can definitively break with the paradigm of linear exploitation and redistribute wealth in the fairest way while protecting the resources that have made it a benchmark and a place of rest and recreation for millions of visitors each year.
This is an ambitious law that includes all the essence of the 2030 Agenda. A testing ground in which to validate a simple but demanding and still unresolved question: is the development of a leading tourism industry compatible with the improvement and residents’ quality of life? The law is born with the focus on the yes. A reform that allows the Balearic Islands to fully lead the transformation and modernization of the tourism sector, placing itself at the forefront of development, adapting its quality and service standards to the challenges and demands of the 21st century.
It is, in this sense, a new tourism law that respects the rights of workers, resources and, of course, the environment. A reform that will improve the tourism model of the islands through collaboration, betting on inclusive and sustainable growth and that, ultimately, will allow tourism to continue towards quality and not quantity.
Out of the equation are the productive systems that seek excess and the exploitation of resources without measuring the consequences or tomorrow in a model that breaks with the old stigmas of tourism to be a true engine of regeneration and social strengthening.
