Researchers from multiple disciplines point to the link between fossil fuel consumption and socio-ecological deterioration. Studying the energy metabolism of the Balearic Islands (1986-2012) gives insights on the ecological, economic and social consequences of regional specialization in mass tourism. The methodology applied, Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM), has been developed in the last decades to analyze societal metabolism from the perspective of complex systems. This study has allowed us to see that since the entry of Spain in the European Economic Community in 1986, the real-state/tourism business model has been reinforced giving place to a higher level of consumption of fossil fuels, an increase in work instability and a diminishing of labor productivity.