Using Water Smartly: What Robinson Cala Serena Means for Mallorca's Drinking Water

Using Water Smartly: What Robinson Cala Serena Means for Mallorca's Drinking Water

A local example you can hear about while walking on the beach

If you stand on the small jetty at Cala d'Or in the morning, you can smell the salt and see fishermen mending their nets. The heat is still far off, but every Mallorcan knows: once summer arrives, water becomes scarce, as explored in Water scarcity in Mallorca: Why hotels must now take responsibility.

The club operates a seawater desalination plant and cites a production capacity of around 200,000 liters per day. In addition, the property uses treated water from an external treatment plant in S'Horta for irrigation and toilets. Together, these measures reduce pressure on local groundwater reserves, which are particularly vulnerable during dry periods, as discussed in When the Tap Runs Scarcer: Mallorca Between a Tourism Boom and a Dwindling Water Source.

In everyday life, I notice small, useful details: drinking water dispensers at central points in the resort that guests use daily instead of single-use bottles piling up in plastic crates; the option to opt out of daily room cleaning, which often leads to fewer towel changes and therefore less water use; and an in-house laundry that uses modern processes and biodegradable detergents to reduce consumption and discharge into the sewage system.

These measures work quietly, yet they add up. On an island like Mallorca, where many communities are among the main water consumers during the summer months, hotels that run more independent water systems can noticeably relieve the local supply. That does not mean groundwater no longer plays a role, but it does mean fewer direct withdrawals are necessary.

There are benefits for residents and neighboring businesses: more stable water levels during dry periods mean fewer restrictions for agriculture and private consumption, a contrast to the tighter local measures reported in When the Tap Becomes a Luxury: Seven Municipalities Tighten Water Rules in Mallorca. And for guests it often means a holiday that comes at less cost to the region. That conserves not only resources but also the good feeling that many holidaymakers want to take home.

But there are limits. Desalination requires energy, and the technical system needs maintenance. It is therefore important that such plants are combined with energy efficiency measures and that hotels are transparent about how much water is genuinely saved locally, supported by tools such as Real-time for Mallorca's Water — a Step, But Is It Enough?. Cooperation with municipalities, joint investments in infrastructure and the exchange of experiences would be a major step forward here.

A small everyday recommendation to finish: those who vacation in the summer months can help with simple gestures — bring a refillable bottle, choose room cleaning only when needed, and avoid unnecessarily 'showering' the hotel's plants. It sounds trivial, but it has an effect when many join in.

In the end, it is the mix of technology, operational practices and guest participation that counts. Robinson Cala Serena shows that hotels on Mallorca can actively work on solutions. On the jetty at Cala d'Or you then see not only boats, but also a piece of responsibility washed ashore — not perfect, but tangible and worth imitating.