In 1952, when Elizabeth II ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom, Isaac Asimov published a story whose plot was based on the struggle for water between Earth and the colonies of Mars. In other words, more than 70 years ago, Asimov already understood that a water crisis could endanger an entire planet. Or two. And that water is not a resource that can be squandered. In fact, from ‘Dune’ (Frank Herbert) to the screenwriters of ‘Mad Max’ (George Miller and Byron Kennedy), many science fiction authors have seen in the possibilities of water scarcity an apocalyptic plot.Well then, the Islands are already living an apocalyptic plot: there is no water, but we continue growing, building, expanding airports and increasing the number of tourists as if we had water. What could go wrong?At the beginning of this year, the United Nations, in a landmark report, declared that the world has entered an era of global water bankruptcy. In other words, many ecosystems have reached the point of no return, because human demand, with its unsustainable progress, has exhausted aquifer savings and dried up the wells of the future. The entire planet's water system is at risk. And, on this desolate map, we can understand islands like the Balearics —located in a Mediterranean that is warming above average and sold to tourism and unbridled concrete— as the paradigm of shipwreck in dry dock, the small-scale experiment of the consequences of the policy of excess. What happens when a society behaves as if a finite resource were infinite?Thus, amid the widespread absurdity, the Archipelago rises, once again, as the champion of nonsense. Attila preventing the grass from growing. In the Islands, we still don't understand what we're playing with regarding water. And this despite all indicators showing we're reaching a very dangerous limit. Water reserves are not reaching 40% on any island. Menorca's reserves have fallen to historic lows. In Ibiza, the largest part of the underground water masses are overexploited and salinized. And the precipitation regime is disrupted due to climate change.It is true that many municipalities have established restrictions — supply cuts or restrictions on irrigation and swimming pools — but if construction continues and human pressure increases, these measures will be like putting band-aids on Smith and Wesson .45 wounds.We are living a water crisis within a climate crisis that threatens our future. And, in reality, it's not that we don't understand it (I think many of us do), it's that whoever sets the agenda for our rulers is a business sector that, in its infinite arrogance, believes that money buys everything and that their navel is above all things in the universe. One fine day I reproached the person in charge of the company that brings us water to our homes —the water oligarchs— that, with the critical situation of the aquifers, they didn't turn off the tap (never better said) to those who ask for five trucks a day for swimming pools and gardens. He answered me that, in reality, he should offer these wasters a better price than me, because they are their best clients. And this is the philosophy. The laws of the market applied to a resource of all that they have privatized without anyone setting limits. Suicidal capitalism, once again.And, ultimately, the limits, of course, are always for those of us who already save water. Individual consciousness as an alibi for not discussing the decisions of those who truly waste. And if not, just ask the pharaoh of Sant Antoni de Portmany (read Mayor Marcos Serra), who, in full drought alert, authorized a party where an Egyptian setting was recreated with a lake that required 170 tons of water to be poured. Water as decoration; the shape of the water we were missing to see.In Asimov's story, titled Martian Way, Earth is about to stop supplying water to Mars —and I don't know if this will be a spoiler, but the book is from 1952—, so the Martians, to avoid depending on Earth's water, decide to go search for an enormous block of ice in Saturn's rings. What some would call technological solutions. And perhaps they themselves will tell me that, after all, an Archipelago is surrounded by water, and that the solution is desalination. But if anyone still thinks that way, I will recommend a short trip to Talamanca, where Ibiza's desalination plant discharges the brine from the desalination process through an outfall under a cliff. There, right there, there should be a splendid seagrass meadow. But the desalination plant has destroyed it. The ecological cost of desalination is too high. And until we can go get ice from Saturn's rings, we either stop building or die of thirst.

The Balearic Islands continue to move towards an increasingly intense and long tourist season. The archipelago reached a concentration of 1.86 million people in May, the highest figure ever recorded for this month, according to data from the Human Pressure Index (IPH) of the Institute of Statistics of the Balearic Islands (Ibestat).

The Balearic Islands continue to transform demographically. Almost half of the resident population of the Archipelago was born outside the Islands, either in another autonomous community or abroad, according to the Report on the Economy, Work and Society of the Balearic Islands 2025, prepared by the Economic and Social Council (CES). The report also warns that sustained population growth exacerbates challenges such as access to housing, pressure on public services, and the aging of society.

The Balearic Islands have once again broken records for human pressure, according to Ibestat data, this past February with 1.32 million people. According to the figures, this is 0.91% more than the same month in 2025.

Terraferida's latest analysis has confirmed the trend: overcrowding in the Balearic Islands is no longer a phenomenon exclusive to the summer months. Based on data from the Balearic Institute of Statistics (Ibestat), the organization indicates that the winter months of 2025 already register more people—residents and tourists alike—than the peak tourist seasons of 25 years ago, demonstrating a sustained increase in population density throughout the year.

Menorca has gained almost 7,000 inhabitants since the pandemic. The island now has 102,477 registered residents, and an increasing number of those born elsewhere are now living there. The tranquility and quality of life outweigh the drawbacks of seasonality and transportation due to the island's double insularity, and this is ultimately convincing many foreigners and mainlanders to settle there.

The Balearic Islands have registered a slightly downward trend during the summer of 2025 in the demographic loadThe first decrease since the start of the Covid pandemic during the peak season months, according to preliminary data from the Human Pressure Indicator (HPI) compiled by the Balearic Islands Statistics Institute (IBESTAT). Despite this decrease, mobility and the influx of people in the region remain very high during the summer period. During the month of August, the average daily number of people in the Balearic Islands was approximately 2,005,000, with a maximum of 2,062,787 people on August 6—the highest number of the month—and a minimum of 1,861,821 people on August 31. These figures represent a slight decrease compared to last year's values, since the maximum accumulated load for the period January-August 2024 was 2,076,276 people, while in 2025 it has stood at 2,062,787, that is, there is a decrease of 0. For the second time since records have been kept —the historical series begins in 1997—, and except for 2020, the maximum IPH decreases consecutively in the peak season months: June, July and August. This had only occurred once before, in 2009. Furthermore, the maximum IPH in August has only decreased on four occasions—excluding 2020: 2009, 2013, 2018, and 2025. The ratio of maximum values to minimum values over the analyzed period is up to 2.2 times higher. This data is particularly relevant for resource and service planning in areas such as transportation, hospitality, health, and environmental management. Differences by island

On the other hand, the analysis by island shows differences in the behavior of human pressure. In Ibiza and Formentera, the peak figures for August as a whole showed a slight reduction, with a 4.6% decrease in Ibiza and a 3.8% decrease in Formentera compared to the previous year. Conversely, in Mallorca and Menorca, the figures show stability or very slight variations: in Mallorca, there was a very slight increase of 0.1% in the peak and 0.3% in the minimum, while in Menorca, there was a slight decrease in both variables compared to the previous year. The data also indicate that, from the beginning of the year until August, the ratio between the peak and minimum visitor numbers remained around 1.7 in the Islands, demonstrating that the periods of peak and minimum visitor numbers are relatively uniform, although with occasional changes. To varying degrees, this same indicator has remained relatively stable or changed little across the islands, with a value of 2.2 in Ibiza and Formentera and 2.3 in Menorca. Statistical officials emphasize that, despite the slight decrease compared to last year, the tourist impact across the islands remains very high and affects multiple areas, including the quality of life of residents and the sustainability of natural resources. The ongoing recovery of the minimum number of residents and visitors indicates that the tourist season is showing signs of consolidation, but that continued regulation and proper planning are necessary to ensure a more sustainable future.

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The Balearic Islands cannot continue to absorb the population increase they have experienced in recent years. This is the view of Prime Minister Marga Prohens, who, during the general policy debate, sought to highlight a fact that no islander ignores: the flood of new population arriving in the islands in recent decades. If the Government's proposal is to reduce the arrival of migrants, the first thing to do is analyze where this phenomenon comes from. According to data from the 2022 population register, half of the foreign residents of the Balearic Islands (108,585) were European.

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Although the mantra of containment has reached even the most reluctant sectors to impose limitations, such as the business sector, the Balearic Islands continue to break records for tourist arrivals, population growth and human pressure - the paradox this year is that the increase in tourists does not translate into in increasing income in some sectors, such as restaurants. Beyond cashing in, this is the third tourist season since the beginning of the legislature in which containment measures have not been applied while problems continue to fester—the main one being access to housing, but overcrowding is reaching even the smallest aspects of residents' lives.

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The Balearic Islands recorded the presence of 1,816,629 people on May 30, which represents an increase of 1.27% compared to the previous year and breaks a new record for human pressure for the fifth month of the year, according to data published this Wednesday by the Balearic Institute of Statistics (Ibestat).

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