Mallorca “rats like rabbits”

Furious Santa Catalina residents in Palma

Repairs are causing serious problems in popular Palma night spot.

Repairs are causing serious problems in popular Palma night spot | Photo: Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter

| | Palma |

Pipe renovation work by water company Emaya has led to three weeks of open trenches, dust and a water cut. The renovation of the drinking water and sewerage pipes that Emaya is carrying out on Carrer del Pou, in the heart of Palma's popular Santa Catalina neighbourhood, has become an ordeal for residents. ‘We haven't been able to open the windows for three weeks because of the dust and the planks,’ complains María Isabel Mulet, a resident on the first floor of number 23. ‘Today (Monday) they announced a water cut from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., we prepared ourselves with buckets... and it's 6 p.m. and we still don't have a drop.’

Mulet describes a street dominated by ‘huge holes’ that make it impossible to drive on the road, forcing pedestrians and motorcycles to share narrow pavements and, she says, ‘have been on the verge of causing more than one accident.’ The situation, she adds, is made worse by the heat: ‘The workers - a subcontractor - are not to blame; I bring them water because they are enduring hellish heat.’

The neighbour says that the inconvenience goes beyond dust and noise. ‘You go to take a shower and you find cockroaches; it's disgusting,’ she complains. According to her, the insects have started to appear in the bathrooms on the first floors due to the open sewer trenches. ‘And the rats are like rabbits,’ she emphasises, pointing out that several nearby nightlife venues and restaurants ‘have already complained’ about the infestation.

Emaya claims that the supply was restored at 4 p.m. on Monday, but several residents were still without water long after. The municipal company is referring all complaints to Palma City Council, while residents feel ‘helpless’: ‘They pass us from one phone to another,’ says Mulet.

Shopkeepers fear that the image of ‘little Sweden’, as Santa Catalina is known for its cosmopolitan atmosphere, will suffer. ‘This has become a place where Mallorcans can't live,’ says the neighbour, who is calling for an urgent clean-up plan and a clear timetable for the completion of the works.

Until that solution arrives, the windows will remain closed and the buckets of water will remain ready in the affected flats. ‘If they at least warned us in advance and covered the holes, we could organise ourselves,’ concludes Mulet, ‘but right now we live with the daily uncertainty of not knowing if there will be water... and with the certainty that rats and cockroaches have already moved into the neighbourhood.’

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