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The requirement to obtain a Water Resources report guaranteeing sufficient water supply for new urban developments has just been reduced by the Balearic Government. The move poses a particular threat to Menorca, where most water bodies are overexploited or contaminated. GOB considers the measure unconstitutional.
The new Law 4/2026 on urgent measures to accelerate strategic projects, also known as the omnibus law, approved by Parliament with the votes of PP and Vox on 26 May 2026, includes an additional provision allowing municipalities to approve or develop urban planning without requesting a prior water sufficiency report from the Directorate General for Water Resources.
This measure weakens the main environmental control over urban growth at the worst possible time. The so-called “strategic projects” law is also a strategy to try to unblock developments that are currently stalled due to reports stating that there is not enough water available.
GOB will take legal action
GOB will appear in all cases that seek to benefit from this measure, as the provision clearly contradicts higher-level regulations.
It should be recalled that Spain’s national Water Law requires a prior report to be issued on plans that entail new water demands. Likewise, the Balearic Hydrological Plan, approved by Royal Decree 49/2023, regulates the sufficiency of resources and treatment capacity and requires consumption data from the last five years.
The exception for development plans that the new Law incorporates with an eight-year limit is not provided for in the Hydrological Plan and is contradictory to these requirements. The municipal report that replaces the report is not equivalent to the independent assessment of the hydraulic administration.
It should also be noted that the doctrine of the Supreme Court is clear: the omission of the report results in the plan being null and void. A recent ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia has annulled a modification of the Metropolitan General Plan in Gràcia (Barcelona) for failing to request the water report. Plans approved under the new exception are therefore vulnerable to legal challenge.
Water denialism
With this measure, the Government appears to align itself with certain ideological currents that seek to deny the problem of water availability, in terms similar to those used by climate change deniers.
Given the water resource problems facing the Balearic Islands, the last thing needed is to deregulate guarantees of water availability.
In Menorca, there is an entire housing development in Binissafúller and Cap de Font that has been halted by reports warning of insufficient water resources. The same applies to Repòs del Rei, in es Castell, where 500 new hotel beds are planned. Similar situations may arise in Platges de Fornells, or in various parts of Ciutadella, where the entire General Plan was subject to significant conditions imposed by Water Resources.
With this new legislative offensive, the warnings issued by GOB are once again confirmed. In many cases, when “streamlining” is mentioned, what is really being considered is “deregulation” or “loss of protection”.