Spain: Andalusia’s Water Fraud

The Court of Auditors detected that 678 million euros collected by Moreno Bonilla from the water tax were not invested in sanitation. 

The oversight body will produce a specific report this year on the discrepancy between what citizens pay for works that are not carried out by the Andalusian Regional Government. 

According to the Andalusian Court of Auditors, the Andalusian Regional Government is not investing the revenue it collects in wastewater treatment, despite daily treatment deficiencies, fines, rulings , and warnings from the European Commission and the courts, as well as demands from mayors to adapt sanitation systems, which result in continuous proposed sanctions . To address the shortcomings in treating the thousands of liters of wastewater generated, the so-called “water levy” was approved in 2010. This levy is a payment made by each user on their water bill to fund the necessary infrastructure projects. However, it’s not just that the administration of Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, of the People’s Party, decided to divert this money to other projects. Furthermore, according to the Audit of the General Accounts of the Andalusian Regional Government (Fiscal Year 2024), the Andalusian government accumulated €678.28 million collected through this levy, which it failed to allocate to the projects for which these funds were intended. The Court of Auditors has decided to prepare a specific report on this discrepancy this year. (…)

The Social Water Roundtable , which brings together social, environmental, agricultural, labor, scientific, and consumer advocacy organizations, considers the situation “especially serious” because Andalusia, they explain, is “one of the regions with the greatest deficits in wastewater treatment” and has accumulated numerous convictions and sanctions. Last December, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Spain repeatedly violated the EU directive ( Directive 91/271/EEC ) on wastewater treatment in some fifty “urban agglomerations and intermunicipal areas with more than 10,000 inhabitants,” particularly in Andalusia.

Public water operators agree on the seriousness of the situation, especially since these works for treatment and sanitation are not only essential to guarantee water quality, protect the environment and comply with European regulations, but also because they would allow for job creation.

“Andalusia has significant deficits in wastewater treatment while numerous infrastructure projects remain unfinished, despite the risk of further European sanctions. Diverting or failing to implement resources intended to correct these deficits is serious,” states Luis Babiano, manager of the (Blue Community) Spanish Association of Public Water Supply and Sanitation Operators ( AEOPAS ).

“The fundamental issue is one of trust,” he adds. “Citizens agree to pay certain taxes when they understand their purpose and perceive their usefulness. When that relationship breaks down, the legitimacy of the system erodes. The water bill cannot become a common fund to finance any policy.”

“Maintaining consistency between what is paid and what is financed is not only a technical or legal requirement, but also a basic condition for fair, transparent and sustainable public management,” he concludes.

Read the full article with additional links in El Pais (Spanish) or in Google English