Water supply and sanitation in Spain
Water supply and sanitation in Spain is characterized by universal access, but also by limited service quality and poor levels of cost recovery. The majority of the population is served by a single private water company, Aguas de Barcelona. Droughts affect water supply in Southern Spain, which increasingly is turning towards seawater desalination to meet its water needs.
Access
Access to water supply and sanitation in Spain is universal. 98% of the urban population and 93% of the rural population is connected to sewers, while the remainder is served by on-site sanitation solutionts such as septic tanks.
Service quality
According to a blog posted on "Sustainable Spain", after rainstorms in some cities the water almost always comes out of the tap filthy and full of grit. Most people wouldn’t think of drinking the tapwater. Nearly everyone buys bottled water, that involves mountains of plastic bottles, not to mention the transport costs. [1]
Links to water resources
Southern Spain regularly suffers from severe droughts. The National Hydrological Plan (PNH by its Spanish acronym) foresaw substantial investments into the transfer of surface water from the Ebro River south to cities on the Mediterranean coast. However, in 2004 these plans have been shelved by the newly elected Spanish government in favor of seawater desalination, adding to 700 existing desalination plants.[2]
Responsibility for water supply and sanitation
Policy and regulation
To be developed.
Service provision
The main urban service provider in Spain is Aguas de Barcelona (Agbar), a private company that provides water and sanitation services to about 20 million people in more than 1,000 localities with a population between 1,000 and more than 3 million.[3]
History and recent developments
To be developed.
Efficiency
To be developed.
Tariffs and cost recovery
Water tariffs in Spain are the third lowest in Europe, at €1.28/m3. Municipal water costs nearly three times as much in Sweden or Denmark, where supplies are plentiful. Most Spanish households spend less than €15/month on water. [4]
A recent poll of 2000 by the BBVA Foundation reveals attitudes about water: that price should not rise and that the means of finding more water resources should take priority. [5]
Investment and financing
Spain spends €6,330 million annually on the capture, transport and extraction of underground water, plus water distribution and sanitation. [6]