Forty million for the integrated water cycle in the Balearic and Canary Islands

The Council of Ministers approved on November 10, 2026, Royal Decree 984/2026, of November 11, which regulates the direct granting of separate subsidies of 20 million euros to the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands and the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands to finance investments in actions relating to the integrated water cycle. The regulation, proposed by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 282, of November 12, 2026, and enters into force the day following its publication, with the official reference BOE-A-2026-23666. The total amount mobilized amounts to 40 million euros.

The royal decree is based on Article 22.2.c) and Article 28.2 of the General Subsidies Law 38/2003, of November 17, which allows for direct granting, on an exceptional basis, when reasons of public, social, or economic interest concur that hinder a public call for applications. The text justifies the exception based on insularity, the scarcity of surface waters, and the impossibility of obtaining essential water resources through conventional systems, as occurs in peninsular basins, which necessitates guaranteeing the supply and improving sanitation and purification.

The funds come from the 2026 extension of the General State Budgets in force in 2025, charged to the budget of the Directorate General for Water through two budgetary applications: 23.05.452A.755, for the Balearic Islands, and 23.05.452A.753, for the Canary Islands. The regulation provides continuity to the nominative subsidies that both archipelagos received in 2025 through separate resolutions of the Secretary of State for the Environment of December 4, 2025, and is integrated into line 6D16 of the department’s Strategic Subsidy Plan 2025-2027, approved by Order of January 16, 2025.

Twenty million per archipelago and flexible distribution

Article 4 sets the subsidy for each autonomous community at 20,000,000 euros, which will be paid in advance and without the need to establish a bond or guarantee. The grant will be formalized through resolutions from the Secretary of State for the Environment.

The actions are configured as a joint budget of a fungible nature: each beneficiary may reallocate funds among the planned works according to actual execution needs, provided that the total investment of 20 million is justified. The aid is compatible with other public and private subsidies or resources, including those from the European Union, provided that the sum does not exceed the total cost of the activity.

Balearic Islands: desalination plants, dispensers, and purification plants

• Mallorca and Menorca: modular desalination plants in sa Coma (Sant Llorenç des Cardassar), la Colònia de Sant Pere (Artà), sa Ràpita (Campos), Santanyí and Maó; water dispensers in Petra, Bunyola, Alcúdia and Ciutadella; renovation and expansion of the WWTP in Consell.
• Ibiza: construction of a tank and pumping station in the eastern branch of the high-pressure water supply network.
• Formentera: installation of a second water dispenser for trucks.

Canary Islands: networks, tanks and tertiary treatment

• Lanzarote: renovation of the distribution networks for the supply of Arrecife and improvement of the piping in the Guacimeta ravine.
• Gran Canaria: expansion of the Puerto de Mogán WWTP, including the adaptation of tertiary treatment.
• El Hierro: construction of a water tank in San Andrés.
• La Gomera: treatment of WWTP sludge and septic tanks through solar drying in the municipality of San Sebastián de la Gomera.
• La Palma: technological evolution of the Canal General La Palma I, with the piping of the Aduares-Fuencaliente section (phases I and II).
• Fuerteventura: expansion, improvement and tertiary treatment of the La Lajita WWTP, in Pájara.
• Tenerife: tertiary treatment at the Buenos Aires WWTP through reversible electrodialysis, within the Metropolitano I territorial sanitation and purification system.

48-month deadlines and expenditure control

The beneficiary communities will have 48 months from the receipt of funds to execute the actions, a period extendable by another 48 months due to unforeseen circumstances. Before the resolution, they must submit a responsible declaration within 15 business days; the resolution will be issued and notified within a maximum of 45 days from publication, and acceptance must be communicated within 15 business days.

Justification shall be submitted within a maximum period of six months from the end of execution, via a justification account with an audit report registered in the Official Registry of Auditors. The royal decree provides for a 100% reimbursement in case of falsification of data, total failure to meet the objectives or the publicity obligation, and establishes that the grants will be published in the National Grants Database. An annex sets impact indicators: annual water savings, volume reused, reduction of network losses, or specific energy consumption.

The impact of the regulation is twofold. On one hand, it ensures the continuity of works that were already underway and whose stoppage, according to the text itself, would compromise their viability. On the other, it recognizes that the structural water scarcity in both archipelagos requires sustained state funding to guarantee the supply for the population and tourism activity without overexploiting water resources.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 282, of November 12, 2026, Section I. General provisions, pages 152515-152527 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-23666).