Reform of Ibiza airport motorway still under study seven months after the storms

The reform of the airport motorway, announced six months ago by the Balearic Government after the serious flooding that once again brought this key road on the island to a standstill, has still not moved beyond the study phase. As a result, no short-term solution is in sight for a problem that has been recurring for almost two decades, every time episodes of heavy rain are recorded.

“From the Government, work is being carried out to improve the drainage system of the motorway. This is a comprehensive study aimed at providing a solution to a structural problem. This work is being developed in coordination both with other Government departments and with Ibiza Town Hall and the Consell Insular de Ibiza”, sources from the Ministry of the Sea and the Water Cycle told Diario de Ibiza.

For now, technicians have already “completed the information-gathering phase”, which includes “reviewing the history of previous studies and carrying out new detailed hydraulic calculations”. “This is a technically complex process in which territorial and environmental factors must be considered in order to guarantee a definitive solution to the motorway’s drainage problem”, they explained.

In addition, the directorates general of Water Resources, which depends on the Ministry of the Sea, and Mobility, under the Ministry of Housing, continue “working in coordination on the development of this study”. “The process is at an advanced stage and, when the technical project is completed, all the details will be provided. Work is being carried out on short-, medium- and long-term solutions”, sources from the regional Executive guarantee.

27 weeks later

On 21 October, ten days after the storm ‘Alice’ once again caused serious flooding across the island, the director general of Water Resources of the Balearic Government, Joan Calafat, announced in Ibiza that the chosen solution to reform the airport motorway and prevent its underpass from flooding again during future episodes of heavy rain would be announced in “a few weeks”, as has repeatedly happened since it was partially opened in 2007. Twenty-seven weeks have passed since that statement. “We have to ensure that all that water goes from Sant Jordi to the sea; there is no other alternative. It is a vast, very important project”, he added.

The chronicle of this foretold flooding began more than 20 years ago, even before the diggers began breaking ground on 18 January 2006 on the land where, despite widespread public opposition, the controversial Sant Antoni and airport motorways would be built.

Months earlier, at the end of 2005, the UTE Accesos Ibiza — a temporary consortium made up of MAB and Construcciones Ortiz — warned of the risk of “serious problems” with rainwater if the original project to build the road below ground level went ahead, with the trench excavated from Ca n’Escandell to Sant Jordi. Despite that clear warning, the Government ignored the request to substantially alter the construction project and remove that trench section.

The result has been that the motorway has flooded every time it has rained more than usual, as happened last autumn with the passage of two very powerful storms, which caused millions of euros in damage across the island and once again put all of Ibiza’s major infrastructure to the test.

Destructive storms

On 30 September, ‘Ex Gabrielle’ hit with force, dumping rain for several uninterrupted hours and causing traffic chaos by flooding numerous roads. The airport road was closed for three days and several cars were trapped under water in the sections beneath flyovers. The second vice-president of the Balearic Government, Antònia Maria Estarellas, acknowledged at the time that “it is inconceivable that a project of these characteristics does not have a drainage system”.

Two weeks later, when Ibiza was still recovering from the consequences of the first weather event, the second arrived, named ‘Alice’. The fresh memory of what had recently happened led the authorities to carry out preventive closures on the airport motorway, which once again flooded and required the intervention of the Military Emergency Unit, sent from the mainland, to resolve the situation with its huge drainage pumps. In this second episode, the amount of water accumulated in pools after the passage of ‘Ex Gabrielle’ exceeded three million litres, according to the director general of Emergencies and Interior of the Balearic Government, Pablo Gárriz.

The director general of Mobility of the Balearic Islands, Lorena del Valle Alonso, lamented on 15 October that “the serious problem that occurs on this road when there is torrential rain is happening again”. “It is necessary to solve the structural drainage problem that has existed for many years on the airport motorway. It is something we must take very seriously and our real objective is to solve it”, she guaranteed.