Madrid plans Balearic protection

THE Spanish Government is negotiating the compulsory purchase of rural estates which are partially protected, protected or of great environmental value, to prevent them from being developed. In accordance with the proposal tabled by the PSOE (Spanish Socialists), the Spanish Ministry for the Environment has included areas such as Sa Canova (Arta), S'Arenal den Castell (Minorca), La Platja des Mitjorn (Formentera) and Ses Feixes (Ibiza) as estates which need to be protected and preserved. The secretary general for Territory and Biodiversity, from the Spanish Ministry of the Environment, said in Palma this week that his department is also considering some new areas of the Balearics being declared natural parks but this is going to take time as a large number of areas across Spain are also being examined.