Las huellas territoriales de deterioro ecológico. El trasfondo oculto de la explosión turística en Baleares

Abstract

The debate on the (un)sustainability of the industrial urban civilisation has often been founded on supposition rather than fact, generally neglecting or hiding the biophysical assessments of the relations between humankind and nature. Human impact on the face of the Earth can be calculated on the basis of the “colonisation of nature” and socio-economic metabolism. However, these indicators correspond to the sphere of entries that are traditionally “overlooked” by the public institutions. Despite institutional neglect, significant contributions have been made, with the development of a series of biophysical indicators of (un)sustainability, among which we must point out the ecological footprint, the MEFA and the LUCC Programme. This article presents the application of different sustainability indicators in the Balearic Islands. As a result, it can be concluded that tourism-based economies like that of the Balearics, which sell the use of “protected areas”, heavily impact the environment, and that such impact is felt increasingly farther away from the tourist areas themselves.