Palma desalination plant delayed until at least 2029
The desalination plant in Palma Bay, Mallorca, will not be ready before 2029, the Water Alliance says. Its full overhaul has just been awarded a €41.3 million contract. On 23 September, the alliance said only 23.7 per cent of Mallorca’s planned water-plan works had been awarded.
That amounts to €196.6 million from the €830 million set aside for Mallorca under the Balearic Water Plan for 2022 to 2027. The Palma Bay plant is the island’s largest project in the programme.
Across the Balearics, the plan lists almost 400 measures with funding of €1,477.9 million. The alliance says 23 per cent of the projects have moved forward, while 65 per cent are concentrated in just three schemes.
The Balearic Government has awarded €111.7 million of works under its responsibility, or 21.5 per cent. Town halls and their companies have awarded €125 million, equal to 26 per cent of their planned projects.
The alliance says the slow pace is a long-running systemic problem, not one tied to a particular political term. It wants new building development linked to the real capacity of sewerage infrastructure, a clear timetable for outstanding work, stable municipal funding and faster public administration.
Without that, it warns, the water plan being prepared for 2028 to 2033 could inherit projects left unfinished under the current one.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com