Mallorca as seen from Barcelona

The distance of Mallorca and the Balearics from the mainland is a disadvantage in terms of funding. | Alfons Puertas @alfons_pc

Andrew EdePalma17/01/2025 11:19
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In June 2022, the European Parliament formally recognised that island territories suffer from permanent natural disadvantages compared to other regions. But these territories are not classified in the same way. The Canary Islands, for example, constitute an ultra-peripheral region. These islands are also not considered to be continental territory. This is on account of the distance from the European continent.

The Balearic Islands, on the other hand, are treated as continental territory and, by contrast to the Canaries, the Balearics don't benefit from various cooperation programmes and specific funding. Because of this, Spain's Congress has agreed to press the European Commission to make an amendment to the continental territory distance criterion that would allow the Balearics to have the same (or similar) benefits as the Canaries.

Vicenç Vidal, a former Balearic environment minister and now a deputy in Congress for Més (and more broadly Sumar), has been a consistent advocate of a better deal for the Balearics, having previously been a member of the Senate, where he regularly raised issues related to Balearic interests. He says: "We are not like the Canary Islands, but neither are we like the continent. This is not just a question for the Balearics. In Europe there are many islands that have to assume additional costs due to their island status and compete at a disadvantage for EU funds."

The European Commission is therefore being asked to prepare a permanent statute for European islands that grants a specific framework to the island territories with which to address the disadvantages they have due to the fact that they are islands. And these disadvantages are well enough known in the Balearics. For instance, transport costs mean higher prices for consumers. The annual spend per citizen of the Balearics on food and drink, etc. is 15% higher than the national average.

There is a similar situation with housing. House prices have been increasing more in the Balearics than anywhere else in Spain. On average, citizens of the Balearics have to spend 30% of their salary to pay for a roof over their heads, and this percentage is rising. A further factor has to do with climate change. The islands are the most vulnerable territories in Europe and their geographical disconnection makes ecological transition towards a climate-neutral economy more difficult. This is why Congress is asking the European Commission to create an additional budget item to help islands overcome the challenges they face and cover their additional costs.