Council rejects proposed move to authorise new quarries in zones of special protection

The Formentera Island Council submitted statements of case in regard to the draft project by the Balearic Island's mining commission, l'Ordenació Minera de les Illes Balears, so that the Govern Balear consider these arguments in the approval process for a new draft law on mines (known as La llei de mines, or the Mine Law). As established by the regional statutes of autonomy, the governing team of the Formentera Council is of the conviction that it has both the legal capacity and the responsibility to govern over our island's territory and will in no case permit other offices to appropriate its responsibilities.

The draft law presented by the CAIB (Comunitat Autònoma de les Illes Balears) proposes to supersede the territorial rights given the island councils. The proposed law would normalise the activity of quarries across the entire Balearic Islands territory without providing any effective means for island councils and town halls to approve or reject the activity. Article 26 of the draft law states that mining exploitations must receive authorisation by means of a written report from the corresponding municipal administration. However, the draft law stipulates that in the event of an unfavourable ruling by the municipality, the Consell de Govern, the governing council of Palma, will have the ability to impose its own decision.

From the point of view of this council, the proposed draft law ignores the separate powers of the national state and autonomous communities. As of July 2007, the remit of our local council has included the authority to redact, approve and modify local-level island directives on quarries. For this reason, and in the absence of a territorial directive unique to Formentera, quarry-related activity has until now been regulated first by the territorial directive on quarries approved as part of Decree 61/1999 [28 May], and second, in practical application, by the mechanism charged with territorial and urban land-use regulations: Formentera's subsidiary regulations (normes subsidiàries de planejament). Approved 30 September 2010, this set of subsidiary land-use ordinances does not entertain any possibility of approval of land-use for extractive purposes, which is to say that any mining activity is illegal in Formentera. By virtue of a law from the year 2000 on territorial ordinances, subsidiary regulations (including those established at the island-level in Formentera) supersede the authority of the territorial directive on quarries.

As for the practical regulation of mining activity, the authority to draft and approve ordinances is surprisingly dualistic. The proposed draft law would attribute this authority to the Govern Balear. Needless to say, article 1 of Law 2/2001 [7 March] places the authority to draft territorial directives on quarries within the remit of the island councils. Article 70 of Organic Law 1/2007 [28 February] to reform the Autonomic Statutes of the Balearic Islands is also clear on this point: land-use ordinances remain within the remit of this island council.

Neither does the Council accept the features of the draft law that enable authorisation of new quarries in zones of special protection, a practise which had heretofore been completely prohibited under the territorial directives. The Council rejects the portion of the draft law that stands to modify article 22 of Law 1/1991 [30 January] on natural spaces and land-use in zones of special protection in the Balearic Islands, which established that quarries on sites classified 'natural areas of special interest' would be approved in exceptional cases and only for motives of public interest and those contemplated by the territorial directive. Under the proposed draft law approval for such projects would become entirely feasible providing justification were given.

The proposed modification implies the deregulation of activity that has particularly negative repercussions on the rural scenery and image which, in the case of Formentera, constitute one of the most important factors to its prosperity in tourism. The governing team of the Formentera Council is wholly opposed to mining activity upon protected land. Under no circumstance will we permit the destruction of the island's protected natural beauty that the Govern's proposed draft law envisions.

For all of these reasons, regulatory authority should remain solely within the domain of the Formentera Island Council insofar as the application of the territorial directive is concerned. This directive must be the only instrument in the regulation of mining activity in quarries, eliminating the possibility of the intervention of other sectors.

The exceptional authority accorded the regional government council (el Consell de Govern) by which Palma can overturn any unfavourable ruling made by the local island administration must be removed from the proposed law. Given the double nature of the Formentera – existing as both a municipality and an island – the proposed law must include a proviso requiring the express approval of the Formentera Council for any mining rights application on the Formentera territory.

The Formentera Island Council thus manifests its absolute opposition – excepting the case of salt-extracting operations already in place and regulated – to the possibility of authorizing any further extractive or mining activity in protected areas.