The Alliance for Water adheres to the call of the Civil Society Forum to participate in the demonstration this Sunday, July 26. The entity, a member of the Civil Society Forum, considers that the Balearic Islands have reached a turning point that requires real and urgent changes in the model to guarantee the water sustainability of the islands.
The Water Alliance highlights that the mass tourism and the unlimited urban growth are not only a question of the quality of life of the islanders and the conservation of the territory, but also compromise the sustainability of the economic sectors of the islands. In the field of water, the data makes this clear: 60% of the groundwater bodies of the Balearic Islands are in a bad state due to overexploitation, salinization or nitrate pollution. By islands, the situation is especially serious in Ibiza, where the percentage reaches 81%, and in Formentera, where 100% of the groundwater bodies are in a bad state. In Mallorca, 53% of the aquifers already have problems, and the consequences are being felt in the municipalities: in the summer of 2025, at least seven Mallorcan municipalities, including Sóller, Deià, Pollença, Montuïri and Algaida, had to apply restrictions on drinking water consumption, with the community's reserves falling to 41%. In Sa Pobla, the aquifer is both overexploited by more than 105% and contaminated by nitrates and chlorides. In addition, a tourist can use up to six times more water than a resident. The entity stresses that without a change in model that reduces pressure on the territory and natural resources, no water management measure will be sufficient to guarantee the future of the islands.
This call for the demonstration was announced last Tuesday at the General Assembly of the Civil Society Forum, where the Alliance for Water participated as a member of the Board of Directors. During the assembly, the organization of the 3rd Civil Society Congress, scheduled for the end of the year, was also discussed. The congress will revolve around economic diversification, a key issue for moving towards a change of model in the Balearic Islands that reduces overcrowding and the main dependence on the tourism sector, and that opens new paths towards an economic, social and environmental transition. The entity positively assesses that the Forum has already begun this work through the document “Proposals for transitioning to a more sustainable production model”, and is committed to contributing to it from the perspective of water and natural resource management.
From the Alliance for Water we demand that the change of model is not a declaration of intentions, but a concrete political commitment that includes real limits to urban and tourist growth, effective protection of aquifers and ecosystems, and adequate funding for environmental restoration. The mobilization of July 26 is an opportunity to take this message to the streets and to political parties: the Balearic Islands cannot continue to grow beyond their biophysical limits. The Alliance for Water invites all citizens of the Pitiüses to join the demonstration and to convey the message that another model is possible and necessary.
