The GOB is the leading environmental organization in the Balearic Islands. In contrast to governments that destroy nature and the environment, the GOB stands as a counterpoint: "those who love the Islands do not destroy them." In a rational country, all its inhabitants would belong to the GOB, united as one to oppose the destruction that diminishes life, including the lives of the people who live there. The GOB, nature, the environment, and people—who are also part of nature and the environment—need to be united to oppose destructive policies.
Well, the GOB, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, has recently been surprised and diminished by a group of members who have joined the board and, instead of contributing their extensive knowledge of ecology and their commitment to defending nature and, consequently, people, have failed to do so. This is rationally and ecologically incomprehensible.
To try to understand what has happened, we are reproducing the interview that the media outlet "Cent per cent" conducted with Francesca Mas Busquets, a member of the resigning board.
Cent per cent. May 30, 2026. The original is in Catalan.
“It was stated in writing in an email that we are environmentally illiterate.”
Francesca Mas Busquets (Palma, 1958) is one of the most experienced activists on the Mallorcan scene. A lawyer by profession, now retired, she is currently a member of the Women's Lobby and the Levante Women's Collective. From December 2023 until a week ago, she was also a member of the GOB board of directors, with an all-female slate that recently announced its resignation. They denounce “contempt, an aggressive tone, and repeated disrespect.” Ten women resigned en masse, announcing their decision at an assembly on May 22. Another person had already resigned previously. We spoke with her about the reasons behind this decision.
She says that your resignation is the result of receiving a continuous attitude of contempt, an aggressive tone, and repeated disrespect. From whom?
On one hand, there was the board of directors. We joined in 2023 and ran with 14 women on a clearly ecofeminist platform, with Margalida Ramis as president. Most of the candidates were young women; I was the oldest. This presentation provoked a strong reaction within a conservative sector of the GOB, who initiated a change to the bylaws. The point they wanted to modify was one in particular, which would have prevented Margalida Ramis from continuing as president because she was also an employee. This amendment to the bylaws, which would have made holding both positions incompatible, was put to a vote, and although Ibiza and Menorca voted in favor, in Mallorca, support for Ramis was unanimous at that time. In any case, these antibodies began to activate against the women's candidacy, from members of the GOB who have a proprietary view of the organization. I'm certain that it all started as an attack on Margalida Ramis. If the president had been a man, there wouldn't have been this mobilization. She is a very capable, charismatic, and cultured woman with ties to social movements.
This was a year after we started. Then Teresa Cuennet became president, and you all remained on the board…
Yes. Subsequently, what happened was that there was a trickle of people, who disagreed with our presence on the board, who began to join. It turns out that the GOB bylaws allow a person to run for a position with only one vote: their own. If I put myself forward, I'd get elected. This isn't representative at all, and it's now been changed to require a certain percentage of support, but that's how it used to be. In this way, people started joining as members until they became the majority. In fact, we held the largest board in GOB history, with 24 members. At that point, with all these people joining through opposition, the situation was very unpleasant and untenable. Almost all of these new additions were people who had already been on previous boards but had been indifferent to the issue for years. However, in our candidacy, the vast majority were new and young faces.
The project, spearheaded by the board members who resigned on Friday, was based on critical ideas about internal governance and had a transformative vision. Has the confrontation been within the project itself, due to its cross-cutting approach?
I wouldn't dare say that so drastically. There is some truth to that, given its connection to struggles like those for housing or the "Less Tourism, More Life" movement, and some members feel this means losing the essence of GOB and losing their leading role. But there have been very direct attacks, and the methods have been extremely unpleasant. We've been told we weren't trained, that we lacked knowledge… It was even written in an email that we were environmentally illiterate. There have been some very unpleasant things happening on a daily basis within the board. They treated us with contempt, as if we were little dolls. But of course, young women no longer tolerate this kind of behavior, and this has been a new experience for them. No one had ever stood up to them before. What I find most unforgivable, and what has affected me most in an organization like GOB, has been the lies. I've missed a bit more empathy and kindness.
What lies?
They started with the first lie, which was that if Margalida were president, they would revoke our public benefit status. This isn't stated anywhere, in any law. Among the most recent lies is a statement sent to the media before the last assembly. First, they didn't respect our wish to inform the members before anyone else. Furthermore, in this statement, they claim to have done things they haven't actually done.
Speaking of the assembly, was the decision to announce the resignation in this way a joint one? Did everyone agree?
Most did. I was among the most reluctant, because I saw us all very shaken and I didn't know if we would have the strength to face it. I felt that a letter explaining the situation would have been enough. Then I thought that feminism tells us we shouldn't do it this way. We must communicate in the most transparent, clear, and calm way possible. Silence offers no protection. That's why we decided to do it this way. The assembly was a very painful and uncomfortable event for Mallorcan society, but wonderful from the perspective of feminist women.
There's a feeling, with this situation of the collapse of a leading organization, that it could also reflect the weakening of social movements.
Yes, like an illness, but this isn't something recent, nor did it arise with that assembly. When we came in, there was already a sense of pain because there was a significant disconnect between the board and the staff. We came in with a very clear idea based on ecofeminist principles, which advocate that if you care for nature, you must care for people. This was completely disregarded during the previous administration, so we introduced it as one of our key points. We wanted the board and the staff to be on equal footing, but the opposition's concept is different: they have a more hierarchical, corporate-oriented view, we could say. This is what I believe has triggered the situation: in just a few months, four people have left a team of ten. The fact that 11 board members have resigned and four employees have left is symptomatic of discontent, of a problem within the GOB.
In fact, one of the points of contention has also been the working conditions of the employees.
Yes, when we started, we decided to create a strategic plan for a couple of years to include all the actions we would take within certain areas, such as eco-social transition and care. We did this with external help, and for the first time within the GOB. Within this plan, one of the key areas was improving the working conditions of the staff, whose collective agreement dates back to 1999. How can this be? The GOB should be an example in this area; the working conditions of its staff should be more than decent, they should be a benchmark. And we haven't achieved this. On the contrary, there was a backlash against improving the staff's conditions. In fact, even though they are the ones who carry out the projects, the new board doesn't want them in meetings or involved in decision-making. Another noteworthy point is also financial: to the detriment of Mallorca, some members have worked hard to distribute the money from a €200,000 grant from the Ministry for Ecological Transition among the other islands. This grant was specifically earmarked and exclusively for Mallorca. We would have understood if the claim had come from the representatives of Ibiza and Menorca, but it makes no sense that the representatives of Mallorca didn't look out for Mallorca's interests. That's why we've gone from receiving €20,000 to €70,000. Not only has significant human capital been squandered, but it also shows a tendency to be careless with members' money, and that's worrying.
Will you remain a member of the organization? Are you leaving GOB?
I will remain a member, unless they do something I won't tolerate. I think GOB still has a lot of human capital, and the team of workers will find a way to continue doing good work. Some, with great regret, are leaving their membership. Especially the women who have recently joined the board, who feel that GOB is their home. They've been involved since they were little, first going with their parents, then going through the children's and youth stages, volunteering… We lawyers have a maxim that's instilled in us when we start out: when you're a young member of the bar, the older members should always help you and teach you. If they had been willing to help, the situation would have been very different, but that hasn't been the case. They joined through confrontation. Be that as it may, I think the members should exercise vigilance because losing so many people in such a short time has caused astonishment among the public.
How do you see the future of the GOB?
Although I would be very sorry if this were the case, I think this point could be the beginning of the end for the GOB. We have to take the step of incorporating all these perspectives; we can't live in the past. The GOB must be feminist, or it won't exist. Society is feminist; we can't go backwards. If the GOB doesn't incorporate feminism, it will remain a conservationist group without a dynamic and active social base, one that is at the forefront of thought, youth, and new visions of life.
Are you considering creating another entity with this ecofeminist character?
Nothing has been planned. I do believe, however, that many of these young women who have left will continue to advocate for the ecofeminist cause.
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