Fundación Casa Planas, a creative centre based in Mallorca specialising in the interpretation of the tourist imagination, is participating alongside La Casa de la Arquitectura as facilitating organisations for a research group under the ‘Organismo’ programme, an experimental applied research initiative promoted by TBA21–Academy – the research and activism arm of the TBA21 Foundation – and the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum.

‘Planetary Theatre of Tourism’ is the title of the study group which analyses global tourism as a system that transforms territories into arenas of consumption; it calls for a visualisation of its social and environmental impacts, is moderated by Grandeza Studio, and focuses on Mallorca as its case study.

This international initiative brings together critical thinking, situated research and speculative practices in partnership with cultural, academic and civic organisations. The programme is based on the hypothesis that interdisciplinary artistic practices can constitute a form of infrastructural activism, capable of going beyond reflection to trigger tangible processes of ecological restoration.

Over a period of six months, the researchers took part in a hybrid programme combining face-to-face and online sessions, with the aim of developing practical proposals that bring together art, research and action, helping to rethink the ‘Balearisation’ model of tourism from an eco-social perspective, thanks to the support of the Daniel and Ninna Carasso Foundation and its commitment to the COSTA Observatory.

The Casa Planas Foundation hosted the international research group’s case study trip in Mallorca. During this period, the researchers conducted territorial analysis sessions and held meetings with local stakeholders, such as the research teams from the University of the Balearic Islands: CRIGUST, SOCIB and the Balearic Oceanographic Centre. Fieldwork. The working group proposes, as a prototype, the creation of a Post-Tourism Travel Agency (POTRA) to explore alternatives to the current tourism industry and its endless seasonal cycle. Seven key conflicts were identified, which were addressed at the launch event in July 2026 at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. 

More information: https://www.potra.agency/