This was a decisive conflict that started in 1974-75 for the preservation of a wetland and natural space at the north-east of the island against threats from tourism development.  It is a case of success where the intervention of civil society and the GOB Menorca (an environmental movement) was crucial.  In Menorca there is consensus that the conflict signalled the beginning of a series of events regarding preservation of coastal areas against threats from touristization and from the building industry. In comparison to Mallorca and Ibiza, such struggles have made of Menorca a relatively environmentally preserved island although under threat of going the same way than the rest of the Balearic Islands. (1).  S’Albufera des Grau was declared a Natural Park by virtue of Decree 50/1995, of 4 May, after years of local social efforts to protect the area. In 2003 the Park’s limits were expanded to cover a total surface area of 5,006 hectares, between its waters and its land, and the five islets  that were declared Nature Reserves (Addaia islands, s’Estany, Bassa de Morella, es Prat and the Illa d’en Colom) in an effort to conserve particularly sensitive places of great ecological interest. Moreover, virtually the entire area sits within a Natural Area of Special Interest (ANEI), forms part of the European Union Natura 2000 Network and comprises the nucleus of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This protected natural environment includes diverse habitats with varying degrees of human intervention: wetlands, agricultural and livestock areas, forests, a coastline of cliffs and beaches, islets and a marine area.