Where will the water come from for the 9,000 homes in Palma's strategic projects?

Palma9,000 homes in eight Strategic Residential Projects (PRE). These are the files that are already moving through Palma City Council and are going through the long process of obtaining a permit. This is the great commitment of the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, which is still far from being a reality. Especially if the initial processing has to go through different controls, such as that of the General Directorate of Water Resources. Martínez and his team wanted at least "some cranes" building hundreds of homes within a year, as has been said in some PP meetings, convinced that it is necessary to show that action is being taken against the housing shortage.

But Palma has natural resources at its limit and overexploited aquifers. The review by Water Resources may complicate the implementation of the projects, and that is why there is tension. Before these homes become a reality, there is a question at the center of the debate: at what point in the processing will they have to prove that they have enough water? According to consulted sources, the strategic projects "must be reviewed by Water Resources, because they include an increase of 45% in the number of homes initially planned in the same area," explains a municipal technician who requests anonymity. On the other hand, the municipal government team will try to ensure that this circumstance does not occur until the permit is granted.

The Omnibus Law approved by the PP and Vox in Parliament includes a provision to avoid duplication and not have to send urban planning plans to Water Resources more than once. But many technicians believe that "behind it there is an interest in reducing the control of the water authority and allowing growth." In this regard, it is taken for granted that Cort will try not to send strategic land projects to Water Resources, even if they involve a significant increase.

Another consulted source points out that "the argument is that this simplification was already applied during the Pact era, through an instruction." "In reality, both the instruction and the norm speak of not sending urban planning plans if they have already been informed and if there are no new developments. In the case of strategic projects, this is not the case. If they want more water, perhaps the fight against illegal tourist rentals could really take place," states this source.

The eight PRE projects planned or under way in Palma envisage the construction of around 9,000 homes, more than half of which will be protected or limited-price. The figure, confirmed by the Palma City Council, makes these projects one of the main commitments of the Government and the City Council to increase the residential supply in a city marked by the housing crisis.

At some point they have to happen, but when?

The discussion is not whether the PRE will have to go through Water Resources or not. Both the Administration and the sector assume that, at one time or another, projects will have to prove water availability. The question is when this control will have to be carried out and what consequences it will have on deadlines.

Developers argue that the PRE will continue to be subject to Water Resources reports. The president of the Association of Developers of the Balearic Islands, Òscar Carreras, rejects that the Omnibus Law eliminates this filter: "They will have to pass necessarily through the favorable report of Water Resources in the environmental and urban planning process," he assures.

The sector's concern focuses on the possibility that this pronouncement will be required in the early stages of the files. If Water Resources has to intervene from the beginning of the processing of the PRE, developers fear that the deadlines will be extended and that one of the main tools created to accelerate housing construction will end up stalled in new administrative procedures.

More buildable area in exchange for protected housing

The PRE are one of the star measures of the Government's housing policy. The regulations allow for an increase in the buildability of land, in some cases up to 45% more than under ordinary planning, with the aim of making developments with a high presence of affordable housing viable.

According to data provided by the City Council, more than 50% of the homes planned in the eight projects will have some form of protection or price limitation. Some of these apartments will be marketed under the formula of limited-price housing (HPL). Carreras recalls that homes under this regime will range "approximately between 180,000 and 300,000 euros and will be reserved for people who can prove at least five years of residence in the Balearic Islands." The employers' association argues that without the increase in buildability allowed by the regulations, it would be much more difficult to assume the mandatory reserves of protected and limited-price housing.

A debate that Palma already knows

The controversy over water is not new. Last year, ARA Balears revealed that reports from Water Resources issued during the processing of Palma's General Plan warned of difficulties in guaranteeing the water supply associated with all the urban growth planned for the coming decades.

Those documents analyzed a scenario that could reach 26,000 new homes by 2038 and warned that the later stages of urban development could face limitations in water availability if infrastructures and available resources were not reinforced.

The emergence of the PREs has reopened this debate. Although the projects have been presented as a response to the housing emergency, several voices question whether the city is in a condition to assume new residential growth without first clarifying what the real supply capacity is. The desalination plant that Palma wants to build will not be ready even in five years.

Some apartments that will not arrive before the elections

Beyond the administrative battle, the real estate sector has warned that the effects of the PRE will not be immediate. Developers calculate that large residential projects will require years of processing, urbanization, and construction before putting homes on the market. Months ago, it was pointed out that it is very unlikely that the apartments derived from the PRE will even be under construction before the next regional and municipal elections.