New desalination pipeline Ciutadella–Es Caragolí opens for public information

The General Directorate of Water Resources of the Ministry of the Sea and the Water Cycle has opened the public information period for the assets affected by the execution of the “Construction project to execute a new pipeline that will connect the Ciutadella desalination plant with the Es Caragolí reservoir,” in the municipality of Ciutadella (file 1/2026). The announcement is published in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB) no. 107, of August 27, 2026, and opens a period of fifteen business days for affected parties to provide data or submit allegations.

The pipeline is planned in the program of measures of the Hydrological Plan of the Balearic Islands Hydrographic Demarcation for the period 2022-2027, approved by Royal Decree 49/2023, of January 24 (PHIB 2022/2027), under measure INFRAESTRUCTURES_3a_016. The project was approved in the session of the Board of Directors of the Balearic Agency for Water and Environmental Quality (ABAQUA) on December 19, 2025, according to the certificate of February 4, 2026, and is not subject to an ordinary or simplified environmental impact statement.

Affected properties

To execute the project, it is essential to affect privately owned properties, either through expropriation, temporary occupation, or right-of-way easements. The published list includes 33 properties (F1 to F33), located in polygons 12, 13, and 16 of the municipality of Ciutadella, with their cadastral reference and the affected areas for each concept:

• Right-of-way easement: from 23.10 m² (F33) to 673.53 m² (F2).
• Temporary occupation: from 77 m² (F33) to 2,245.10 m² (F2).
• Expropriation: only in six properties (F2, F4, F10, F14, F19, F21, and F29), with areas from 64.88 m² to 198.67 m².

Deadline and procedure

Prior to the declaration of urgent occupation, a public information period of fifteen business days is opened, counting from the day after the publication of the announcement, in accordance with articles 18 and 19 of the Compulsory Expropriation Law of December 16, 1954, and the corresponding articles of its Regulation (Decree of April 26, 1957). The purpose is for any person to provide in writing the appropriate data to rectify possible errors in the list or to submit allegations.

The project documentation is available for consultation at the Ciutadella City Council and on the Water Portal website of the DGRH. Allegations can be submitted through the electronic registry of the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands or physically at authorized public registries. The announcement was electronically signed in Palma on August 21, 2026, by the Director General of Water Resources, Juan Bartolomé Calafat Busquets.

Relevance for Menorca

This pipeline is a centerpiece for strengthening the water supply in western Menorca, by connecting the production of the Ciutadella desalination plant with the Es Caragolí reservoir. For the owners of the affected estates, the announcement marks the beginning of a procedure that may end in expropriation or the imposition of easements, for which the period for filing objections is the only way to correct the list of assets before the declaration of urgent occupation.

Fuente: Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands, no. 107, August 27, 2026, Section V (Announcements), pp. 46804-46805 (official reference: announcement 8598, file 1/2026).