Mallorca water row: new homes spark permit clash

On Mallorca, the push for new homes has opened a fresh row over water. In Palma on Tuesday, Juan Manuel Lafuente, the Balearic Government’s minister for the sea and water cycle, faced questions from PSIB deputy Amanda Fernández in the Parliament of the Balearic Islands. She asked whether new housing schemes should have a guaranteed supply before developers move ahead without an approved water permit, known as a concession.

Lafuente said the Government was working to secure both access to housing and water resources. He argued that water being available was not the same as a case in which supplies existed but the legal paperwork was still being processed.

The minister accused the opposition of putting obstacles in the way of protected housing and of securing the physical resources needed for it.

Fernández said Mallorca already faced water shortages and interruptions. She warned that developers wanted to build housing estates without water guaranteed for the people who would live there.

She called on the Government to put more weight behind the public and the island’s resources, rather than those she said wanted to use them up.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com