Around 100,000 Balearic Islanders live in areas with water unfit for consumption

PalmaNearly 100,000 residents of the Balearic Islands lived in 2025 in areas where drinking water was declared unfit at least at some point during the year. Specifically, this concerns 98,452 inhabitants, a figure that rises to 145,027 if people residing in the 22 areas considered "at risk" are added, meaning those with recurrent non-compliance that could eventually lead to a declaration of unfitness.

This is the conclusion of the advance of the annual report by the Water Alliance, prepared from data from the National Drinking Water Information System (SINAC) of the Ministry of Health. The study, which analyzes 992 tests conducted in 2025 in the 67 municipalities of the Balearic Islands, warns that many of the detected problems are not isolated incidents but have been recurring since 2016 or 2017.

The most concerning situation is registered in Menorca, which presents the highest percentage of unfit tests in the Archipelago, at 26.1%. Non-compliance affects ten supply areas in Maó, es Castell, and Ciutadella, with 22,705 registered inhabitants. According to the entity, in the Maó area, nitrate contamination predominates, while in Ciutadella, nitrates are combined with aquifer salinization.

70,357 affected in Mallorca

Despite having a lower percentage of non-compliance (9.2%), Mallorca concentrates the largest number of affected residents, with 70,357 inhabitants distributed across 26 supply areas in thirteen municipalities. The report identifies two main focal points: the agricultural municipalities of the interior – Manacor, Sineu, Ariany, Costitx, Vilafranca de Bonany, Lloret de Vistalegre, Llubí, and Petra – where nitrates repeatedly exceed permitted limits, and the municipality of Santanyí, where the main problem is marine intrusion, with high levels of chloride, sodium, sulfate, and conductivity. Furthermore, there are twelve areas in Mallorca classified as "at risk", among which Llucmajor and Can Picafort stand out.

In Ibiza, six supply zones registered non-potable water during 2025, affecting 5,390 inhabitants, most of whom were concentrated in Cala de Bou-Port del Torrent, in Sant Josep. The Alliance also points to Sant Josep Zone I and El Canar Cosmi as the two zones with the most concerning history, as they have accumulated non-compliance almost uninterruptedly since 2016, related to the salinization of aquifers.

On the other hand, Formentera is the only island that did not register any area with water declared unfit during 2025. However, the Mola distribution network remains at risk due to recurrent non-compliance with free residual chlorine levels. The Water Alliance maintains that these problems respond to a structural deterioration of the aquifers, caused by overexploitation, salinization, and nitrate pollution. "This is not solved with more chlorination or more analysis. What comes out of the tap is the symptom; the disease is underground," states the spokesperson for the entity, Rafael Tur.

The organization calls on the Department of Health to strengthen the control of sanitary water plans and on the Department of the Sea and the Water Cycle to intensify the control of groundwater extraction and promote measures to recover aquifers. It also urges municipalities not to authorize new urban developments without first ensuring the availability of sufficient and quality water.

The entity directly links the situation with urban and demographic pressure and warns that, as ARA Balears reported, the Omnibus Law (Law 4/2026) goes in the opposite direction because, according to the complaint, reduces the prior controls on the water sufficiency of new urban developments.