Movimenti ecologisti ed ecoturismo: sinergie e ambivalenze alle Isole Baleari

Abstract

[eng] Environmental Movements and Ecotourism: Synergies and Ambivalences in the Balearic Islands. On the one hand, this contribution focusses on the thought and practices aimed at the conservation of islands' environment and at an ecological reconversion of island development models, and on the other hand, it focusses on the emergence of an ecotourist offer and image in Mallorca and Menorca. We will analyse how ecologism and ecotourism developed in the history of the Balearic Islands from the democratic transition to the present day. In particular, this paper will reconstruct the historical evolution of ecological sensitivity and local environmentalist movements, identifying the crucial events animated by civil society and the most important institutional steps taken thereafter. The article underlines the role played by island ecology in denouncing or stemming the «seaside real estate» model of uncontrolled growth, connected to the positioning, especially of Mallorca, in the European tourism market. Finally, we will try to understand if and how the environmenta- list movements have favoured or constituted a premise for the conversion of the islands - or of some specific spaces within them - into ecotourism destinations.