One of the most impactful announcements made by the new mayor of Seville, the popular José Luis Sanz, in his first 100 days in office is that he will increase the price of water bills by an average of 30% to combat the increase in costs resulting from the drought. He is not the only one, a few days earlier his counterpart from Málaga, Francisco de la Torre, also warned that the bill would be 42% more expensive, although he also justified this with the need to meet the 100 million euros of investments municipal company to make investments in maintaining and improving care. Zaragoza, governed by PP and Vox, will also increase its tax rate by 8.5% to offset the increase in energy costs and the impact of water shortages.
In all these cases it is also claimed that the price of water has been frozen for many years – since 2013 in the case of Seville and Zaragoza and 2016 in Malaga – and that the increase is necessary to update the costs based on inflation and in the case in the Andalusian capital to compensate for the negative result of the municipal water supply company Emasesa. The company has proposed an increase ranging from 22% for families with normal consumption, 31% for families with high consumption and 46% for families with very high consumption, which will be applied gradually – 30% this year and 10% in 2024 % in 2025―. The mayor had previously spoken of 30%, but the application of the increases proposed by Emasesa was not ruled out.
70% of the national territory suffers from severe water shortages. Climate change and the increase in droughts are not helping to alleviate this situation. Nevertheless, Spain is one of the countries in the European Union with the highest average water consumption per inhabitant, although this consumption is mainly concentrated in the agricultural sector. As for domestic water consumption, which accounts for the majority of urban water consumption, Spain is one of the areas where this consumption is low, according to data managed by the Spanish Water Supply Association (AEAS). Between 120 and 140 liters per person per day, according to AEAS data, and an average of 133, according to INE.
As for the rates, the president of the AEAS, Pascual Fernández, emphasizes, “they are surprisingly low if you compare them with our environment.” The EU average is 3.5 euros per cubic meter, while in Spain it is around 2 .10 euros. “In the Nordic countries, where there are fewer drought problems, the prices are higher, seven euros in Denmark or six in Germany, because they have accustomed the consumer to the fact that part of the price is used for environmental policy,” he explains.
“Emasesa has the cheapest cubic meter of water in the province of Seville, since it has not been updated since 2013, and in 2023 it has a very limited budget as the water consumption of Seville residents decreases due to the increase “The cost of water treatment have increased due to the drought and the company cannot embark on a new investment plan if there is no tariff increase,” the mayor of Seville defended this week his initiative, which represents an increase of almost eight euros per month per house with very high consumption and five at 30% – the average price is 22 – “The announcement of an increase in the cost of water due to the drought seems to be more of an excuse than a reality.” ” emphasizes Abel Lacalle, Professor of International Law at the University of Almería and President of the Board of Directors of the New Culture of Water Foundation. “One should have been proactive, emergency wells should have been ready, water treatments should have been introduced, when it is known that there is less, the more dense… If there is a need to spend on cleaning, one should have thought about it when cleaning If it were sustainable, the costs would be very low,” he adds.
For Fernández, the fundamental problem, beyond the drought, lies in the widespread freezing of tariffs, which has prevented the companies that manage the service from making the necessary investments to provide or maintain the infrastructure, in a general context of the Decrease in consumption by citizens, which also reduces the income they receive. “We have been following the general pattern for 10, 12, 15 years of maintaining the rate because an increase in prices involves the fact that the decision is made by the mayor of the city and is an unpopular measure, but that amounts to a shift of blame.” The President the government about the increase in oil prices,” he emphasizes. “Energy costs have increased, but the only sector where they have not been affected is the public water supply and that has created gaps, many companies do not have balanced accounts and that ultimately leads to the need to increase tariffs.” The Drought worsens the financial situation of water companies.”
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Compensation for an investment of 100 million euros by the municipal water company Emasa in Málaga is the main justification given by the Málaga City Council for increasing the tariff by up to 42%. “It’s not a big deal,” said the mayor, referring to the bill’s increase of 6.21 euros – each house should pay from 14.59 to 20.80 euros – and then explained that this increase would make it possible to compensate Investment of 100 million to be provided Increasing the efficiency of drinking water production, renewing networks, eliminating critical points during floods, reducing waste thrown into the sea by 80%, producing and distributing regenerated water, renewing facilities and expanding and creating new collectors.
Variability of rates and policies
The announcement of this increase has angered the PSOE opposition, which has warned that the “high rate” will harm families, especially the most vulnerable. In this direction goes the initiative presented by the Valencian PSOE in the regional parliament to abolish the 20 euro increase in the water bill for all houses in the municipality, which came into force on August 31 of this year and is valid until 2025. Coincidentally, this increase was approved by the previous government of the Valencian Generalitat under Ximo Puig, who decided to end the suspension of the regional water fee that he himself had ordered to combat inflation. For its part, the Valencia City Council is not considering further increasing the rate, which has been frozen since 2020.
Barcelona and its metropolitan area experienced a 4.02% increase in water bills in May 2022 (average bill of 60 cents), before emergency measures were taken due to the drought. Toledo also confirmed that the price of water will increase but did not specify by how much, following an administrative court ruling that ordered the city council to review the price. Other large municipalities in autonomous communities without obvious drought problems, such as Galicia, the Basques or Castile and León, do not expect rates to increase. The Canal de Isabel II, which serves the Community of Madrid, emphasizes its strict opposition to any increase. “We have gone almost 10 years without a rate increase and without an increase in premiums, and right now that is not on the table,” company sources claim.
In Spain, tariffs vary greatly between municipalities and autonomous communities and in many cases the tariffs do not reflect the water stress to which they are exposed, a circumstance that often does not lead to savings in consumption. “There are communities that have a fixed tariff and there are other small communities where access to water is free, and that is not the best solution,” says Fernández. Experts agree that urban water prices are inadequate compared to surrounding countries. Marta Suárez-Varela, an economist at the Bank of Spain, warns in a study published by Fedea on urban water tariff policies in Spain that tariffs still do not cover the financial costs of providing the service and are still far from recovery. and resource consumption costs. “The costs must be passed on to the tariff: oil has increased, labor costs have increased, chemicals for cleaning …,” explains Fernádez. Lacalle, who agrees that the cost of the service is passed on to people, calls, however, for “transparency and participation so that users know for what purposes the price paid on the bill is intended and that companies do not increase the benefit.”
Access to water is not a problem
In Spain, according to AEAS figures, the percentage of the family budget devoted to paying the water bill is 0.89%, very far from the 3% that represents the threshold used to define “water poverty”. , the moment when families struggle to access their consumption. 94% of communities have mechanisms in place to ensure consumption for the most vulnerable groups, such as: B. Social tariffs or special tariffs for large families or for households, which, however, apply to the latter, as Professors Fernando Arbués and Marián García-Valiñas point out in their report Water prices in Spain do not always have an impact, they lead to distortions in terms of efficiency and Justice.
With information from Eva Pérez (Zaragoza); Cristina Vazquez (Valencia); Daniel Rodríguez (Toledo) and Elena Reina (Madrid).
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