267km line will connect Balearics to Spanish gas supply network

Engineers have begun laying a pipeline on the sea floor that will eventually connect the islands to the Spanish mainland. Enagas, the company behind the project, has already laid the pipes connecting Ibiza to Palma de Mallorca and will now connect the last – and by far longest – section, connecting Ibiza to Alicante.

The work takes the form of a boat dredging a trench for the sections to be placed in at an average depth of about 720 metres. The task ahead of them is a daunting one, with some 21,881 wrought iron tubes needing connecting and welding together.

When completed, the pipeline will be 267km long and will transport gas from the Spanish mainline to the islands.

The project is expected to be completed in July 2010