PART III - CASE STUDY 5.2

Water supply and tourism development on Mallorca

Mallorca, which lies in the Mediterranean and comprises the principal island of the Spanish Balearics, illustrates well the dilemma that faces a growing number of tourist destinations in warm or hot climates. On the one hand, their climatic regimes are a primary attraction to mass tourists who – in the case of Mallorca – originate largely in northern European countries such as the UK and Germany, yet, on the other hand, the general absence of rainfall during the summer months renders the task of meeting tourist demand for water increasingly problematic. With current visitor levels running consistently above 10 million per annum, the tourists create a level of demand for water that far exceeds that of the 700,000 people who comprise the resident population.

As the authors of this study note, ‘the environmental conditions on Mallorca make the island predisposed towards water shortages’ (Essex et al., 2004: 10). Geologically, large areas of the island comprise highly permeable limestone, so such rainfall as does occur (which is mostly between October and December) produces very little surface water. Consequently, aquifers supply most of the island’s requirements. Furthermore, there are significant spatial variations, with much higher levels of rainfall (circa 1,000–1,200mm per annum) falling over the more sparsely populated northern mountain zone of the Serra de Tramuntana, whilst urban resort areas on the southern coast receive as little as 350mm per annum. Spatial problems of supply are compounded by the seasonality of demand, as peak levels of tourist (and resident) demands generally coincide with the irrigation requirements of the island’s farmers.

The problems of balancing demands against supply have, however, been exacerbated by recent trends in tourism development which have had the effect of increasing the already high demand for water from tourism. In particular, a conscious effort to enhance the image of Mallorca and attract a more up-market clientele has seen a major expansion in provision for golf and a more concerted effort to smarten resort areas (and especially new developments) with green open spaces and gardens. Tourist demand for local fruit and vegetables has increased too, placing added pressures on Mallorca’s irrigated agricultural systems.

The management of water has therefore come to occupy a central position in the sustainability of the island’s tourist industry. Excessive usage of water has, it is estimated, been responsible for a fall of over 120 metres in the level of the water table in the main aquifers since 1973, leading to increased incidence of saline intrusion and salt water contamination of water supplies in some coastal areas. Local water shortages have become a more common problem with forecasts suggesting that by 2016, supply will be meeting only 87 per cent of anticipated demand. Accordingly, the regional government of the Balearics has brought forward a strategy for water management aimed at addressing the expected deficits. Central to this strategy are several key actions including:

• the introduction of measures to make more effective use of existing supplies through the reuse of waste water for agricultural and golf course irrigation;
  
• more effective repair of distribution systems to limit losses through leakage;
  
• encouragement of conservation through new pricing policies and universal use of water metering;
  
• development of new sources of supply through additional bore holes and an extension of existing (though expensive) systems of desalination of contaminated groundwater;
  
• artificial recharge of aquifers that have been over-exploited by transfer of water from new sources or perhaps through piping of water from areas that are presently in surplus.

However, despite the confidence of the regional government that issues of water management can be resolved, the authors of the study are rather less sanguine, noting that ‘a technical approach to water management in order to sustain the tourist industry may simply be postponing the inevitable outcome’ and that ‘the reality may be that a new balance will have to be achieved between environmental capacities, in this case available water supplies, and the provision for tourism’ (Essex et al., 2004: 24).

Source: Essex, S., Kent, M. and Newnham, R. (2004) ‘Tourism development in Mallorca: is water supply a constraint?’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 12 (1): 4–28.