Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026

Surveying Low-Cost Methods to Measure Lifespan and Healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: May 18, 2022
Description of extreme longevity in the Balearic Islands: Exploring a potential Blue Zone in Menorca, Spain
Joan B Soriano1, Sara Fernández Vázquez, Silvia Carretero
1Fundación Caubet-Cimera Illes Balears, Bunyola, Spain.
Aim:
We aimed to determine whether there was a Blue Zone, an area characterized by extreme longevity, in Menorca, Spain.
Methods:
We explored official statistics of the Balearic Islands, Spain, and calculated life expectancy from 1991 to 2009, by sex and island, among other demographic estimators.
Results:
The life expectancy at birth in Menorca reached a peak in 2007 with 82.3 years, but since 2001 in females and 2007 in males, it plateaued and then descended. The percentage of centenarians in Es Migjorn Gran was 0.17% in 2001, only because of the 0.33% male contribution, and it returned to within the average Balearic rates. There is no record of any other surviving centenarian after 2006 in Es Migjorn Gran. Results obtained with other demographic indices are confirmatory.
Conclusions:
It appears there was no extreme longevity or Blue Zone in Es Migjorn Gran and the surrounding villages in Menorca.
Related Concept Videos
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
Longitudinal Research
Development of Human Microbiota
Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Temperature
Diversity of Archaea I
Diversity of Archaea IV

