Moving mountains of bureaucracy

The seasonal ban on lighting fires has been brought forward two weeks following several minor incidents.

The forests are 75 per cent denser than they were in the 1950s because the land is not being maintained, which along with unusual weather events increases the risk of fires.

Antoni Solivelles Estrany, mayor of Lluc and Director of the Serra de Tramuntana at the Consell de Mallorca, attributes this to masses of red tape which discourages landowners from using the land for farming and other profitable activities.

He is concerned to act now to preserve the UNESCO World Heritage status, granted in 2011 for the Cultural Landscape in recognition of the adaptations which humans made to thrive in an initially hostile natural environment.

The Serra de Tramuntana World Heritage Consortium promotes policies and grants, helping owners and farmers to recover the spaces.

Cutting through red tape

The Consell de Mallorca is now preparing a new draft of the Serra de Tramuntana law with the involvement of all the municipalities affected, who will have the next few months to put their points across with one clear objective: administrative simplification.

This and other initiatives would seem to indicate that actively reducing bureaucracy is trending in Mallorca.