The Pla de Mallorca Intermunicipal Association will receive a subsidy of €528,285 from the Balearic Government to cover the costs of transporting water by tanker truck during 2025. This is stated in the provisional resolution published in the BOIB (Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands) by the Ministry of the Sea and the lack of water resources, especially for municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. The Pla de Mallorca Intermunicipal Association is by far the main beneficiary of this subsidy program, far ahead of the other municipalities included in the annex, such as Banyalbufar (€57,294.50) or Estellencs (€1,690). According to official documentation, the intermunicipal body already advanced the funds and justified the payment on December 24, 2025, which allowed the Directorate General of Water Resources to validate the expenditure. As has been reported All Plans In recent years, the Pla de Mallorca region has suffered recurring and serious water supply problems, exacerbated by persistent drought, overexploitation of aquifers, and structural limitations of the network. The use of water tankers has once again become an essential emergency measure to guarantee the supply to some municipalities, especially Montuïri. However, both the town councils and the Mancomunidad (Association of Municipalities) have repeatedly warned that water transport cannot be a permanent solution due to its high economic cost and environmental unsustainability. The government subsidy helps alleviate the financial burden, but it again highlights the need for long-term investments in infrastructure, efficient management, and water resource reuse.

"If we assume 200 liters of water per day per tourist, a reasonable consumption for a three-star hotel, the water footprint can reach 11,000 liters per day," estimates the president of the executive committee of Act4water—an initiative involving professionals specializing in corporate sustainability and water management—at the Water and Tourism conference held this Thursday. This figure in the Balearic Islands is equivalent to filling a small swimming pool every day. She added that "the figures increase" if the hotel "upgrades in category." She also pointed out that the average water footprint of a Spanish resident is 6,700 liters of water per day. These figures, however, are only fully understood if one has a clear understanding of what a water footprint is: the total amount of water a tourist consumes both directly—through showers, swimming pools, or baths—and indirectly, through the services they use. This is the water needed to wash hotel towels and sheets, cook, clean rooms, maintain gardens, and fill and treat swimming pools. To put it in context: 11,000 liters is roughly equivalent to 55 five-minute showers, or the domestic water use of an entire family for several days, or 150 loads of washing machine in a single day.

Sóller City Council has updated its measures for water conservation and responsible use and has also imposed restrictions on tourist establishments. Initially, the regulations only reported restrictions for individuals, but this Thursday they issued an updated decree detailing several measures that directly affect hotels, vacation rental homes, bars, restaurants, and cafes.