Presentation short abstract

This study examines the growing reliance on desalination in the Mediterranean amid structural droughts. Focusing on a controversial project in Albufeira, Portugal, it explores how technological fix and resilience discourses shape policy, conflict, and environmental governance narratives.

Presentation long abstract

With the impacts of the climate crisis, the Mediterranean region has in recent years experienced an increasing number of drought situations. In response to this challenge, a wave of political and infrastructural measures has emerged to address the resulting water deficits. Among these interventions, desalination has gained significant momentum, with a proliferation of plants projects at varying scales.

Behind this trend lies the prioritisation of a discourse centred on the technological fix, a solution that seeks to mitigate the water crisis through technology without necessarily questioning its underlying causes and systemic issues. This discourse, often grounded in the notion of resilience, can generate intense socio-technical controversies, as the implementation of such projects often involves trade-offs that are far from being consensual.

In this paper, we focus on a desalination plant project located in the Algarve region, in southern Portugal. Initially triggered by funding provided by the European Union, a new desalination plant is planned within the municipality of Albufeira. The proposed site lies nearby Falesia Beach, a site renowned as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and has sparked a heated debate. The controversy juxtaposes the necessity of ensuring water supply for the entire region against concerns about landscape degradation, tourism impacts, effects on fisheries, and the health of marine ecosystems.

Through a critical discourse analysis, this presentation explores the diversity of storylines mobilized around this project and examines how the notions of technological fix and resilience have come to form a hegemonic discourse.