The Balearic Islands face a complicated summer in terms of water supply and, more worryingly, a race against time to guarantee this resource in the coming years. The problem is no longer just whether it will rain more or less in the coming months, but whether the current system, at its limit during the summer months, will be able to withstand while the infrastructure to reduce dependence on aquifers arrives. The Islands are preparing an offensive of investments in desalination, reuse, supply networks, and sanitation, but a good part of these actions are still in the project, tender, or execution phase.

Govern after govern, councilor after councilor, plan after plan, day after day, and presentation after presentation. Good words, intentions, and, for some time now, a certain self-criticism have succeeded one another. “We are at the limit.” Now, even the PP admits that the Islands are on the verge of collapse.

The historic center of Palma is a Property of Cultural Interest (BIC). Entirely. And in addition to the smell of urine left by many quality tourists, who are often seen urinating in alleyways, there are specific and harmful actions against heritage. Hundreds. Among them, systematic graffiti. In some places, like the convent of Santa Magdalena, there are even signs reminding of its BIC status and encouraging people to behave and not continue painting there. It is truly important that the population understands that heritage must be respected.

While Aena and the island and regional governments pass the buck over who is responsible for the saturation, the saturation does not stop increasing. In the first six months of 2026, Mallorca's main airport has once again pulverized all its records and is already close to 15 million passengers (14.9), which represents 14% more than just three years ago, compared to the first semester of 2023.

The Balearic Islands have started the summer with a very complicated situation in terms of water reserves. The data from the month of June worry the Executive, and rightly so. Underground reserves, the main source of supply today, have dropped again on the eve of summer, and the lack of rain in recent weeks has worsened a situation already marked by pressure on aquifers. Although there is no talk of a widespread emergency, official data paints an increasingly tight scenario.

The legal modification promoted by the Government to eliminate the obligation to go through Parliament when modifying the protection area of ​​the Trenc Natural Park raised all alarms of environmentalism. The response arrived on July 5, when 10,000 people gathered in this emblematic space to protest against what they consider the gateway to a future reduction in protection.

The battle for the future of the Trenc Natural Park and its surroundings has concrete names. Individuals and companies that for years have been trying to prevent the consolidation a protection strip around this protected area, as consecrated by the Natural Resources Management Plan (PORN) in 2023. One is the Sa Barralina polo field, promoted by the company Es Figueral Gran, which filed one of the four legal challenges against the 2023 Trenc management plan. Like other landowners, they did not want the park's area, already delimited in 2017 with the law that declared it, to be expanded, even if it was simply as an influence area. Because they believed they would lose opportunities to carry out activities, such as parking lots and, in some cases, restaurants. This is the heart of the conflict that currently surrounds the natural park, after the Government has reserved the possibility of modifying it directly.

It is indeed true that the Consell d’Eivissa is the institution that has done the most to combat illegal tourist rentals. But let's not fool ourselves either, it had no other choice. Because the situation on the main Pitiusa island is simply desperate. During the summer months, you can practically not drive a car without being a victim of a traffic jam and a constant feeling of chaos and suffocation. Upon arrival at the airport, there are not enough taxis, public transport is more than improvable, and hotel entrepreneurs have said on more than one occasion that the tourist experience has worsened in recent years.

Up to 74,000 square meters of the protected area of the Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Maritime-Terrestrial Natural Park, specifically the entire area around Les Covetes (see attached map), are in the spotlight and run the risk of becoming unprotected. This is a protection strip that the Pact established in 2023, five years after approving the Natural Park. The owners went to court, which has not yet resolved the case, and have pressured the Government to undo the measure. Some sources consulted by ARA Balears confirm that this area is the main reason why Marga Prohens' Executive has decided to simplify the path to retouch the Natural Park, without having to go through Parliament.

The Consell de Mallorca has not managed to authorize the administrative file to validate the agreement with Eivissa for the transfer of waste between the two islands. This situation formally prevents its signing and puts the start of the new inter-island system for managing the residual fraction on hold, just when the logistical device associated with the project is advanced and with a ship about to arrive in Eivissa, as reported by ARA Balears. Furthermore, it should be remembered that the Ca na Putxa landfill is close to reaching its operational limit.

The Omnibus Law also lowers the requirements for building facilities in rural land. The norm, which modifies more than 50 laws, mainly environmental and territorial management, excludes complementary activities of the primary sector for the transformation and direct sale of products from the same agricultural holdings from the simplified environmental assessment procedure.

For forty years, the Balearic Islands have done what, in theory, was supposed to guarantee more prosperity: attract more and more tourists. A consensus and a model that worked and placed the Islands among the richest communities in the State until the late 1980s.

Although state statistics speak of a global decrease in sales by foreigners in recent months, in the Balearic Islands the reality is quite different: according to the latest data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, in 2025 these citizens acquired four out of every ten properties over €500,000 sold. A proportion that doubles any figure from other autonomous communities.

Drums of war are sounding in Mallorca's environmental sector. Marga Prohens' government, after a string of environmental deregulation and deregulation measures, has now dared to tackle one of the great symbols of Balearic environmentalism: Es Trenc.

It has been circulating for years. And there are already many rulings, appeals, statements of facts, reports, and a large amount of official documentation. And it is not the first time we have encountered a complicated case because a public official clearly abuses their position.

The Omnibus Law was intended to be an instrument for regulating strategic business projects and will go down in history as one of the most deregulatory norms regarding territorial and environmental matters. Among its provisions, there is one that eliminates the restrictions that the Government (former PP councilor Gabriel Company) had promoted to limit the establishment of catering establishments in the maritime-terrestrial public domain.

Marga Prohens' Government cannot be blamed for decades of saturation. However, the social and environmental movements calling for this summer's demonstrations – Menorca is giving the lead – consider that “it cannot be stated that they have taken a single real containment measure, not even to mitigate the impacts,” according to UIB geographer Macià Blázquez.