The Llavanera or the golden turds

IbizaThis article is going to be a bit of a shocker, so consider yourself warned. The Llavanera stream is the third most important watercourse on the island of Ibiza. It flows into the port just after passing through the Golden Mile of Ibiza Town, right between the Ibiza Gran Hotel (a five-star luxury hotel) and the Salt Bae luxury apartments, The N Residences, currently under construction (starting from 'Mirón'). At the foot of the Llavanera, you can admire the coveted postcard view of Dalt Vila. Everything is luxurious in this place. Except for the smell, if it's rained too much.

Luxury Ibiza and sewage don't mix well. It's logical; the combination seems impossible. The smell of feces is something people who have had to change their children's diapers have to deal with; the wealthy aren't so used to it. So, when there have been floods and overflows, it's no surprise to hear outbursts from the aristocratic residents of Llavanera. Articles and statements proliferate, and this has happened again after the floods of September 30th and the subsequent ones in October. The comments from Turkish chef Nurset Gökçe, better known as Salt Bae, owner of some twenty restaurants worldwide and developer of The N Residences, right next to Llavanera, have been particularly noteworthy. "It's a big problem because it smells bad," the chef protested, in statements to Ibiza NewspaperAlongside them, public relations specialist Carlos Martorell echoed the opinions of his beneficiary: "Salt Bae is a very generous and likeable guy, who now has to fight against this pestilent torrent."

Salt Bae's struggle has only just begun. On the other side of the Llavanera stream, the Ibiza Gran Hotel has been battling the "foul-smelling torrent" for years without winning a single battle. The Ibiza Gran Hotel, built on top of and from the former Ibiza Casino, and inaugurated in 2008, is one of the pioneering establishments in the pursuit of luxury. It has encountered the Llavanera "problem" from day one. In fact, the hotel was one of the hardest hit by the floods of September 30th. On October 1st, the hotel announced its closure: "It is with deep sadness that we inform you that, due to the severe flooding that occurred yesterday in Ibiza Town, the Ibiza Gran Hotel has suffered considerable damage to its electrical systems and essential facilities. We have made the difficult decision to close the hotel early, with immediate effect." It sounds like unconditional surrender. The Llavanera stream is exacting a heavy price in the luxury destination of Ibiza.

The malignant, smelly mud

The Llavanera stream is a force of nature. Literally. With a basin of 56.57 square kilometers, it originates on the slopes of Mount d'en Tur, near the road from Santa Gertrudis to Sant Mateu, flows through well over half of Ibiza, and empties into the port. Previously, it flowed into the Feixes del Prat de les Monges; in fact, its sediments and the freshwater it carried contributed for centuries to shaping this area of high ecological value. When it rains excessively, the stream descends with great force; in the final, flat stretch, with its cemented riverbed, it is prone to overflowing.

If the Llavanera only carried rainwater, it would be a problem, but not so much. The real cause for complaint is the sewage it carries when the Ibiza wastewater treatment plant can no longer process the water and has to open its floodgates. This happens during periods of extraordinary rainfall or in the event of a malfunction. I thought that with the inauguration of Ibiza's new wastewater treatment plant, a high-capacity facility that came online this summer, the problem would be a thing of the past. But it's clear that's not the case. Among other things, because the old plant continues to operate as a pumping station; the new plant returns the excess water to the old facility and, therefore, if necessary, to the Llavanera stream, as had always been done.

The president of GEN-GOB, Juan Carlos Palermo, considers these episodes "inevitable." In fact, due to global warming, he believes torrential rains will become increasingly frequent. If the water returned by the Ibiza wastewater treatment plant is already treated, the water flowing down the stream will be almost clear; however, if it has had to be discharged in an emergency, the liquid will likely include a significant amount of sewage sludge, the substance left over after wastewater treatment: organic matter, minerals, and microorganisms. Ultra-concentrated excrement, to put it simply. A scum-based fertilizer. An excellent product for fertilizing fields, but difficult for anyone with a functioning nose to tolerate. I had the privilege, years ago, of witnessing one of the first experimental fertilizer applications using sewage sludge (such is the nature of local journalism). It doesn't smell like roses. In fact, the aroma is so far removed from that of roses that nobody wants to be near it. "When it was being used on farmland, the neighbors complained," laments Joan Carles Palerm. "Now that it's being taken to the landfill, the neighbors of the landfill are complaining." And indeed, in Ibiza, it's physically impossible to find a place to dump this sludge without its pungent odor reaching some sensitive nose.

This is the real villain of the piece, the culprit behind the 'stinking torrent': the sewage sludge. Juan Carlos Palermo considers the proposed solutions, such as covering the final stretch of the Llavanera sewer, to be impractical. "The fumes responsible for the stench have to escape somewhere," explains the president of GEN. "If they don't escape there, they'll escape there: they'll reach some neighbor." Sources from the environmental group advocate for better separation of rainwater and sewage, which are not yet 100% separated in the city of Ibiza, and for not concentrating a large part of the treatment in the new wastewater treatment plant, as is currently being done, taking advantage of its large capacity.

Postcard poop

The floods of September and October have brought to the surface one of the contradictions in which we live immersed in Ibiza: the growing gap between the glamorous postcard image and the reality of an island saturated with tourists and cars, lacking infrastructure and professionals to maintain it, and ill-prepared to face emergency situations. A rich island, however; in 2024 Ibiza received 3.27 million tourists. An extraordinary figure. A figure that does not translate into tangible improvements for its residents. In Ibiza, fiction and reality diverge a little more each day. In fact, if you visit the website of Salt Bae's development company (thenresidencesibiza.comYou'll find the Llavanera stream a beautiful blue color, as if you could dive in and swim for a while without catching anything. It's not a real color. If you go to Llavanera, don't swim. You can't swim in a postcard.