The Egyptian swimming pool of Sant Antoni makes the water glass of Ibiza overflow

The Egyptian party in Sant Antoni de Portmany, including a 170-ton water pool, has turned out to be the news story of August in Ibiza. Rarely has a matter of such little depth—hydrological depth, that is, because it certainly has political depth—caused such a commotion. The Egyptian kitsch for 350 exclusive guests, authorized at the Can Coix quarry, is costing the Portmany City Council, held by the PP, unprecedented wear and tear, and has provided the PSOE with political ammunition they weren't even expecting.

The party was held on August 14th and since then it has not stopped being talked about, with the Diario de Ibiza as the main driver of the topic, but with echoes in national media as disparate as ElDiario.es and OKDiario. In reality, the capacity of the Egyptian pool is equivalent to a couple or three of the normal pools that you can find in any detached house, and around 200 of them are built every year in Ibiza; thousands, if we broaden the scope to the rest of the Balearic Islands. The most common size of a pool is 8 by 4 meters, with a depth of 1.40; that is to say, 44.8 tons of water. So, then, why such a scandal?

For the obscenity. It is not the amount of water, it is the demonstration of power by a bunch of rich people, who can rent a public space for less than 200 euros and do more or less whatever they want there. Like, for example, setting up an Egyptian party with cardboard pyramids, a 170-ton lake of water, and dancers in thongs. Having a lot of money does not exclude you from having bad taste, as has been proven. On the contrary, it allows the materialization of the most foolish nonsense, without the organizers having their gifted economy penalized for it. The organizers, the American agency Van Wyck & Van Wyck, is according to Diario de Ibiza one of the most sought-after by the political and social elites of the United States, and they have worked for the Clintons, the Obamas, the Bushes, Madonna, and Beyoncé. Admirable. Let us remember that the main urban development project of the current US president is the construction of a ballroom at the White House, which will cost 200 million dollars and will imitate Versailles. In line with the Egyptian party.

Meanwhile, tourists and Ibizans are asked to shower sensibly –“Shower for the length of a song”, proposed a campaign by Aqualia and the Ibiza City Council a couple of years ago– lest a drop of the precious liquid be wasted. In fact, the five Ibizan municipalities –the same ones that have the legal capacity to authorize or deny the construction of swimming pools– participate in the annual awareness campaigns of the Water Alliance, a non-profit entity that has municipal support and also that of the Council. And it is not that the campaigns are not necessary. In the last ten years, Ibiza has practically not emerged from pre-alert for drought; right now the aquifers are at 42% of their capacity. In fact, the largest of the Pityusic Islands entered a drought alert between July and November 2025, with aquifers below 30%. At that time, measures as radical as the prohibition of filling public or private swimming pools and cleaning terraces and streets with a water hose were adopted. The three desalination plants in Ibiza reached 110% of their capacity. The president of the Ibizan Council, Vicent Marí, declared: “Every litre of water counts, it is essential to turn off the taps properly” (Periódico de Ibiza, July 2025). It is known that we Ibizans understood the message. Now, municipalities like Sant Antoni also find themselves caught by the savings campaigns they promote, but do not comply with.

The magic word

But, rest assured, because, in any religion, there is a mantra, a prayer, a magic word that has healing and restorative power for every case. In the religion of tourist monoculture, and when it comes to water, the magic word is ‘desalination plant’. Prepare yourselves to hear it every time you turn the corner in the coming months. It would only be missing that every new villa being built couldn't have its attached little pool!... Anything before admitting that the current model, tourist and residential, already far exceeds the capacities of Ibiza; that climate change puts even more pressure on very limited resources: more insolation, higher temperatures, more irregular rainfall, longer droughts...

In Ibiza, we already have one swimming pool for every 14 inhabitants on average, crossing the Land Registry data with the population. If you are in the municipality of Sant Joan de Labritja, the average is 6.9. In Sant Josep and Santa Eulària, there is one pool for every 6.8 and 9.3 inhabitants, respectively. Between 2024 and 2025, the year of the declared drought, 581 pools were added to Ibiza. And Mallorca is not far behind. In fact, it has the dubious honor of being ahead: in the bucolic town of Deià, there is one pool for every four inhabitants; large towns like Andratx, Calvià, Marratxí, Llucmajor, sa Pobla..., widely exceed the Ibizan records. This will soon be like the song Personal Jesus, by Depeche Mode, but with swimming pools. I hope that in a future revision of the Statute of Autonomy, the personal pool will be considered a right for the citizens of the Islands. The faithful of the tourist monoculture will surely see it with good eyes.