Sant Joan Town Hall has acknowledged that it cannot identify the exact tariff structure applied to customers receiving water from the private supplier operating in Port de Sant Miquel, nor establish which administrative procedure approved the prices or who is responsible for supervising them.

The admission raises questions about transparency and the regulation of a water supply system that serves homes, tourist accommodation and businesses in the Ibiza resort. The company currently identified as the operator is Real Estate San Miguel Suministro de Aguas, S.L. (RESM), which belongs to Hotel Investment Partners (HIP).

In a response to questions from La Voz de Ibiza, the municipality said the documentation available in its administrative file does not allow it to determine precisely which tariffs are currently charged to subscribers or establish the administrative basis for their approval and supervision.

The council also acknowledged that it needs further information from the private operators to clarify the financial conditions under which the service is being provided.

RESM Identified as the Water Supplier and Billing Company

The public record of the Port de Sant Miquel water supply network in Spain's National Information System on Drinking Water (SINAC), administered by the Ministry of Health, identifies RESM Suministro de Aguas as the company managing the supply and issuing the bills.

The record lists 185 registered residents supplied by the network, representing 100% of the registered population assigned to it.

SINAC also displays a comparative billing indicator of €2.50 per cubic metre. However, this figure does not establish the exact household water tariff. It does not, on its own, explain whether customers pay different rates according to consumption, whether fixed charges or taxes apply, or whether domestic customers and commercial establishments are billed under different conditions.

It is therefore not possible to use the €2.50 figure as a confirmed price per cubic metre for every customer in Port de Sant Miquel.

The Town Hall has also been unable to establish how many subscribers RESM has or precisely when the company began billing third parties for the general supply.

The Relationship Between RESM and Port Esmeralda

The municipality distinguishes between RESM and Port Esmeralda, S.L., another company historically associated with the water infrastructure.

According to the Town Hall's explanation, Port Esmeralda does not directly provide the water service. It does, however, maintain contractual relationships with RESM concerning the use and operation of the installations.

HIP has confirmed that RESM is part of its corporate group and manages the private water network through agreements with Port Esmeralda.

In separate comments to La Voz de Ibiza, HIP said that the private network supplies not only its hotels but also homes, tourist establishments and other businesses in Port de Sant Miquel.

The group maintains that providing water to the wider area does not generate a commercial benefit and that the costs of maintaining the infrastructure and monitoring water quality exceed the income received. HIP described the operation as having a negative operating result.

However, the company did not provide the publication with the number of connected customers, the tariffs applied or detailed figures for operating costs and losses.

The Council Says More Documentation Is Needed

Sant Joan Town Hall says it must obtain further information from the private operators to establish the current economic conditions of the supply.

The information it wants includes the tariffs in force, supply contracts, billing records and the legal titles that support the arrangements.

The municipality has also acknowledged that it does not have a record of individual notifications informing every customer about the administrative situation of the service. Although the relevant agreements have been published and the operators and affected titleholders notified, the council says specific information has not been communicated individually to all consumers.

The issue is part of a wider municipal examination of the private water network. A municipal legal report has described the general supply to third parties as a service being provided in practice without the necessary authorisation, because the identified groundwater concessions are linked to the supply of two hotels and irrigation rather than expressly covering general supply to homes and businesses.

This concerns the legal basis for the wider supply service. It should not be confused with a definitive finding that every individual bill or tariff charged to customers is unlawful. The council's specific admission on tariffs is that it cannot currently identify their exact structure or administrative basis.

A Public Water Network Is Planned for Port de Sant Miquel

The municipality intends to replace the current dependence on the private network with a public supply based mainly on desalinated water from ABAQUA.

The transition is part of a wider plan to establish new infrastructure and organise the water service under municipal responsibility. A plenary agreement adopted on 30 July 2026 instructed the relevant municipal services to prepare the legal, financial and tariff arrangements required for the future public supply.

The council has decided not to acquire or incorporate the old private network as a whole, following technical concerns about its condition and legal status. Instead, it is pursuing new infrastructure designed to serve the area.

This includes a new 2,000-cubic-metre regulating reservoir in Sant Miquel, for which the construction contract was awarded to IMESAPI, S.A. in May 2026 for €1,414,383 excluding VAT. A separate 4.95-kilometre pipeline connecting the reservoir to Port de Sant Miquel has a published budget of €695,397.64. The Balearic Government's project information listed that pipeline as having a completed project and approved budget, rather than as a completed construction work.

Until the new public network becomes operational, the private system managed by RESM will continue supplying the area. The Town Hall says a written transitional arrangement is still being formalised. That arrangement is expected to clarify responsibilities for infrastructure, maintenance, health controls, economic conditions and the duration of the interim supply.

The future municipal service will also require its own tariff and contractual framework.

Questions Remain Over the Cost of Water for Customers

For residents and businesses in Port de Sant Miquel, the immediate issue is the lack of clear, publicly established information about the prices being charged and the administrative basis for those charges.

The council has acknowledged that it needs further records from the operators before it can clarify the tariff structure. HIP, meanwhile, says the supply operation generates losses for the group but has not provided detailed figures or the prices charged to individual customers.

The planned public network may eventually provide a new framework for the service, but it does not resolve the outstanding questions about the current private supply. Until the transition takes place, the exact tariffs, their approval and the arrangements governing the service remain matters the municipality says it needs to clarify.