Related news: Mallorca tourism: Defining the future sustainability

Antoni Riera was placed in charge of leading the technical process for the Balearics pact for sustainability in May last year. An economist, he talks not just like an economist but also a business school professor. Last Thursday, he presented the document, the Bases of the Transition Agenda , that was the culmination of the deliberations of the pact's twelve working parties. His explanations are those of the business school, the frustrations with this process thus far - and the same applies to politicians - lying with a language divorced from that of the bar and cafe. What will this transition agenda actually entail? What will it mean for tourism and the broader economy?

Riera says the document is the result of an "intellectual journey", defining the bases has been a major challenge. "But the real challenge lies in implementation. We have built a solid architecture; it must now be translated into concrete actions . To do so, efforts must be aligned between actors with diverse interests, resources must be guaranteed and the necessary consensus must be generated to move forward."

These actors - originally some 140 from business, unions, civil society and more - have been engaged in "active participation to ensure that the document is a useful starting point and not a simple theoretical exercise". How consensual concrete actions can be was thrown into question when some of the actors walked away, e.g. the Forum for Civil Society, who were critical of the methodology. Riera insists: "The process has been designed to incorporate multiple perspectives and ensure a plural space. The contributions have been enriching, but no individual entity or group had veto power over the content. This document is not the result of a political negotiation, but of a technical and methodological process."

The next phase, he explains, will incorporate "groups of experts" ... "who can add value in the design of specific actions". "The second phase will focus on defining the Transition Agenda, specifying measures, strategies and implementation mechanisms."

The pact, as President Marga Prohens made clear from the outset, is a social and political pact for sustainability. This again raises a question as to consensus. What if there isn't political consensus ? Might a future government interpret the document and its bases in its own way and adopt different measures? Riera is confident that "although each government can introduce its political priorities, the reference framework guarantees that decisions are not arbitrary and are aligned with sustainability and competitiveness objectives".

"It is a technical and strategic framework, not a party document. Its strength lies in the fact that it transcends the immediate political debate and provides a roadmap that can be adopted by any government, regardless of its colour . The continuity of the process will depend on political will, but the value of the document lies in its technical approach and its ability to generate broad consensus beyond the political situation."

This is the hope, therefore, for what may prove to be "a transition that is as necessary as it is timely ... the transition towards a more sustainable and resilient future". But for all this, there are as yet only indications as to what it all means. For instance, Riera acknowledges that "promoting more exclusive tourism could generate more income, but also increase pressure on resources if not managed properly". The admission is, however, or appears to be, that the path is towards more exclusive tourism.

There are, he says, 247 factors, classified into four types according to their impact. Driving factors, which drive the change and condition other factors, are the most important. In this regard, he mentions teleworking . "This affects business competitiveness, the organisation of the labour market, the use of infrastructure and the decongestion of transport."

On the labour market, a proposal to have emerged concerns employees on 'fijo discontinuo' contracts . Prevalent in the tourism sector, the proposal is to scrap such contracts, the thinking being, in terms of social sustainability, that they add to the precariousness of employment and to economic dependence on tourism.

More than this, what everyone wants to hear are the concrete measures, issues including (as examples) the tourist tax, holiday rentals, limits of whatever kind . The theoretical exercise is over. The talk has to now be that of the nitty-gritty. But more than just talk. Actions.

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