The GOB encourages the Govern to put a brake on the new tourist boom

According to the GOB, it is essential to stabilise the tourist and urban growth to be able to resolve Mallorca's water problem. Every year the increase in the number of tourists who arrive on the islands represents an increase in the consumption of drinking water by about 7% (2,100,000 m3/year). To all this must be added the indirect consumption derived from the construction of new hotels, houses and apartments, plus the services, infrastructure, facilities, tourist services, golf courses...

The ecological association thinks that with annual increases such as we have for the number of tourists, overnight stays, accommodation beds.. the supply of drinking water will be almost impossible unless we set to the construction of desalinisation plants with a tremendous economic and environmental cost. For this reason, the GOB asks the Govern, Mallorcan Council, the town councils and businesses to put a brake on the absolutely exaggerated growth with negative environment, social and economic consequences.

The GOB proposes definitely the adoption of a whole series of measures in hydraulic policy that are based on four principal points:

a) Policy for saving: campaigns to make the public aware, to establish progressive tariffs according to consumption, to carry out a saving plan in hotels, to take advantage of rainwater...

b) Reuse of treated water: priority for the investments in tertiary treatment, bank on the reuse of residual water before capturing new resources..

c) Limit the urban and tourist growth: suspend the concession of the exploitation of new tourist establishments, not to approve new golf courses, not to authorise new urbanisations and the reduction of the present capacity...

d) Control and Vigilance: to establish a stop to new wells, to seal up salty wells, to make an inventory and control of existing wells, to control the use and volume of extraction from the wells...

Date of publication: 07/02/2000

Mallorca >> News >> Archive 1999-2003 >> The GOB encourages the Govern to put a brake on the new tourist boom