Maó water crisis: PP puts bought water cost at €6m

Maó, Menorca: a two-year drinking water crisis leaves families, shops and restaurants buying water in large containers, the opposition People’s Party says. On 28 September 2026, the party demands answers from mayor Héctor Pons, saying neither of the city’s two water-treatment plants, known as denitrification plants, is running or supplying drinking water to the network. It estimates that bought water has cost around €6 million over those two years.

Two plants, several missed deadlines

Party spokesperson Virginia Victori says Pons has repeatedly given dates for repairing the Malbúger plant and starting the new one in Sant Climent. The Malbúger repair was due by the end of 2025, she says. The Socialist Party (PSOE) and Ara Maó then agreed to make drinking water a priority in the first four months of 2026 and bring both plants into operation. Victori says that did not happen, and a later deadline of after the summer has also passed.

Victori wants to know what is wrong with each plant and when it will work. She acknowledges that Menorca’s water problems, including the state of its groundwater reserves, are complex. But she says that does not excuse repeated promises without results.

Tanker water and the cost to Maó

Water tankers brought water to Maó this summer. Victori says the party has yet to receive the August report and still does not know which wells supplied the water.

People’s Party councillor Alfonso Toral says the council is responsible for providing drinking water and accuses the mayor of shifting blame. He says the party asked for water charges to be halved because people have had to pay for water to drink, but Pons refused. The party’s €6 million figure is an estimate of that spending, not a confirmed total.

Topics: Food & dining · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com