75,000 pools later

According to the latest data, there are 75,000 swimming pools in the Balearic Islands. Seventy-five thousand. But that's not all, not even close. They include swimming pools, but also exotic springs and waterfalls, artificial rivers within. resorts that imitate distant paradises, although here paradise—the real one—is drying up.

They tell us the drought is severe, that restrictions are beginning, and that there will be many more, but consumption will remain rampant. Because, who will control whether a swimming pool refills every day that two tiles of water evaporate? It's like with energy: we tile the field with solar panels, but consumption is not controlled. Because, who checks whether the air conditioners in the second homes of multimillionaire foreigners remain on all year round, even when they are in their countries? They can pay the water or light bill. But the real cost—the environmental one—is paid by our islands. They mortgage our future while we bathe in excuses.

All this, without going into the silenced drama of water leaks in the public network. Well, it's not silenced: we all know how much water is lost in every municipality, due to rusty pipes, due to old systems that no one fixes. A scandalous percentage is the water we treat that never reaches the taps. But no one wants to dig up streets to fix it. Doing so costs votes, and here it seems that water is worth less than a councilor.

While hotels decorate the desert with water and advertise themselves as oases, the wells are drying up and desalinated water isn't enough. Aridity is no longer a metaphor; it's real. And the worst part is that, knowing this, we carry on as if nothing happened. As if water were infinite and no one's responsibility.