Innovation and sustainability take centre stage at the I Mallorca Aqua Summit
TThis morning, the I Mallorca Aqua Summit was held at the Mallorca Country Club, as part of the Mallorca Championships presented by waterdrop®. The event, organized in collaboration with the Consell de Mallorca, is intended to be the first of an annual series.
The inauguration of the event was led by the CEO of e|motion, Edwin Weindorfer, and the president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés. Weindorfer thanked the institutions for their collaboration in organizing the tournament, the first event in these islands and in the ATP to be completely free of plastics.
The president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, took the opportunity to emphasize that sustainable water management is one of the island's most urgent challenges. “Despite being a paradise in the middle of the sea, we are already suffering from water stress. Water is the basis of our economy, ecosystem, and way of life, but it is increasingly threatened by drought and pollution. From the institutions, we have the obligation to promote initiatives to protect water and ensure its availability for future generations.”
He explained that the Consell, in collaboration with the Balearic Government, allocates 20 million euros to the “Water Deal” for municipalities to optimize their consumption and improve infrastructures to prevent leaks.
After the opening, water management experts gave presentations, sharing their views and innovative solutions for one of Mallorca's most pressing problems: the protection of this scarce resource.
The Minister of the Sea and Water Cycle of the Balearic Government, Juan Manuel Lafuente, stated that water management is a priority for the Government: “Although we have been pioneers in Spain with our network of treatment plants, the tourist and social model has changed, and we need to modernize the infrastructure to be environmentally and economically sustainable,” he said.
Henry Murray, co-founder of waterdrop®, the presenting partner of the tennis tournament, stated that his company believes small details can make a big difference: “We want to inspire people to live longer by drinking more water in a healthy and sustainable way. We want this to be a plastic-free island by 2030 and a world reference. The mistake would be to ban plastic without first promoting healthy water infrastructure and educating consumers.”
Next, Walter Kreisel of Phantor presented his company's project, which involves manufacturing generators that convert air into water: “The biggest crisis in 2025 will be water, and we need new ways to obtain it, such as harnessing humidity in the atmosphere with machines that convert water from gaseous to liquid state, producing liters of water daily without the need for plastics.”
Concluding the presentations, Ana Riera, executive director of the Mallorca Preservation Foundation, highlighted her organization's work in environmental conservation in Mallorca, concluding: “It is crucial for sporting events to propose alternatives to plastic and single-use containers, as we have done in this tournament with water refill stations and a cup reuse system.”
Round table discussion
The second part of the I Mallorca Aqua Summit consisted of a roundtable discussion with Henry Murray (waterdrop®), Hans Lenz (president of Mallorca Preservation Foundation), Cristina Salmeron (communication director of Fergus Group), and Juan Calvo (Alliance for Water). They discussed the possibility of a plastic-free Mallorca by 2030. The exchange of opinions demonstrated that concern for this issue has reached all sectors of society and that it can only be addressed comprehensively with everyone's involvement.
At the end of the event, tennis player Dominic Thiem greeted the attendees and announced that, after retiring from professional tennis this fall, he will dedicate himself to two sustainable projects. He congratulated the tournament organizers for their decision to make the Mallorca Championships a plastic-free sports event.