"Endangers the right to water": MÉS per Palma presents allegations to Cort's Sustainable Management Plan

PalmMÉS per Palma has filed objections to the municipal plan for sustainable water management promoted by the PP government (with the support of VOX) because it considers it a document that jeopardizes citizens' right to access water. The City Council presented this plan in February of this year to address short- and long-term supply in a scenario where the viability of supplying the 46,000 new homes planned for the city in the next decade is questioned.

The formation warns that the Plan is not only insufficient, but that it "consolidates an economic model based on the unlimited growth of water consumption in the service of mass tourism and urban speculation". Furthermore, while it places no limits on large consumers or luxury uses, it places all the responsibility for saving on the citizenry, they criticize.The spokesperson for MÉS per Palma, Neus Truyol, has stated that "the model promoted by PP and VOX is destructive". "They promote more mass tourism and more cement. This leads us to even more unbridled consumption. A tourist spends twice as much water as a resident. In the case of luxury uses, consumption can multiply by ten. This has no future," she said.

According to the eco-sovereignist group, the allegations highlight that the PP's Plan responds to a logic where water is at the service of the business of a few:

• It assumes urban expansion without any limit linked to the available water.
• Ignore the impact of urban planning policies approved in the last three years, which intensify water pressure.
• It does not limit the consumption of large consumers, such as hotels, swimming pools, or luxury uses.

For Truyol, the result is clear: "There is more demand for water and more pressure on the water network, and guarantees for citizens are eliminated." As he said, the water management by the PP and VOX is planned to continue growing without limits. "It is a serious error and, moreover, it is irresponsible, because the PP prioritizes uses linked to tourism and urban development businesses; afterwards, if there is water left, it will be for families," he lamented.

A municipal desalination plant

One of the measures included in Jaime Martínez's plan is the creation of a municipal desalination plant, powered by Emaya, at a cost of approximately 135 million euros, to address the water shortage anticipated by the Government's water resources technicians in the 2023 General Plan of Palma reports. This critical situation had already led to various confrontations between the mayor's team and the Ministry of the Sea and Water Cycle.

The creation of a desalination plant, which Cort considers key to the "future" of the water management model, raises questions. In statements to ARA Balears, Juan Calvo, director of the Alliance for Water and former secretary of the Balearic Water Agency, pointed out that the European framework aims to reduce demand, then reuse water, and only as a last resort, increase supply. "Before building a new desalination plant, we should make the most of the ones we have," he argued.