On October 9, 2018, thirteen people lost their lives in floods in northeast and east Mallorca. All the deaths were as a result of water that erupted from torrents. The majority of the fatalities were in Sant Llorenç. It was said that a wall of water five metres high engulfed some of the victims.
The torrent in Sant Llorenç has been the focus of attention ever since. On Thursday, the president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, said that work had been blocked for too many years. On becoming president, it was a priority, the main issue having been requests by the Balearic government's water resources directorate. Now resolved, work will shortly be put out to tender and will take a year to complete. There is a budget of 4.5 million euros.
The mayor of Sant Llorenç observed that it is a project of unprecedented magnitude in Mallorca and that it needs to be carried out as soon as possible.
The torrent itself will be expanded and containment walls of up to four metres will be built. As important will be the vastly greater capacity of pipes. The volume of flow that these pipes will be able to deal with will increase by five times. Total water flow of up to 488 cubic metres per second will be supported. This was the maximum amount that the torrent discharged five years ago.