Spain will have to respond to European justice for the observed shortcomings in the sanitation networks of 133 urban agglomerations.. The European Commission (EC) decided to take Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). “widespread non-compliance” with the urban wastewater directive. The Community Executive states that this directive aims to protect the environment from the negative effects of urban wastewater originating from the domestic and industrial sectors.
Although the commission accepted welcomes Spain’s progressthink about it still need to equip all agglomerations with collection systems or, where justified, by stand-alone or other suitable systems such as septic tanks that provide the same level of environmental protection.
According to the EC, Spain should also redouble its efforts to ensure that the collected wastewater is adequately treated. To comply with current European standards.
This means, as the Commission explains, there are piles where it is necessary to build or improve the infrastructureIt may require investment in building new physical facilities or upgrading existing treatment facilities.
The Community Manager sent a letter of call to Spain in December 2016 and a reasoned opinion in February 2020 asking it to fully comply with the municipal wastewater directive.
this European Green Deal determines an ambition ‘zero pollution’‘ For the EU, which benefits public health, the environment and climate neutrality, thereby increasing Europe’s resilience, the Commission reminds.
EU legislation, such as the urban wastewater treatment directive, aims to protect human health and protect the natural environmentand it is essential that Member States fully implement it.
Directive approved in 1991
The Urban Wastewater Directive, approved in 1991, sets out the necessary measures that Member States must adopt. Ensuring that urban wastewater is adequately treated before dischargeSomething that 133 Spanish towns don’t have.
In summary, the Directive lays down two clearly differentiated obligations; First, urban agglomerations should have collector systems for the collection and transport of wastewater, depending on the situation; Secondly, different processes are envisaged that these waters must be subjected to before they are discharged into land or sea waters.
The characteristics of the area where it is produced are taken into account in determining which treatments the wastewater should be subjected to before it is discharged. According to this situation, Treatments will be more or less rigorous depending on whether they are performed in areas classified as ‘sensitive’, ‘less sensitive’ or ‘normal’..
The Spanish government has declared 90 ‘vulnerable’ areas in the country, mostly rivers and reservoirs. Further forward, autonomous communities declare 46 more ‘sensitive’ areasmost on the beach.
The ‘sensitive’ areas declared by the Ministry of the Environment (today for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge) include the Torrevieja and La Mata lagoons; natural parks of Tablas de Daimiel, Lagunas de Ruidera, Grazalema and Cazorla; and Doñana National Park and its surroundings.
Among the areas declared sensitive by the autonomous communities, the bays of Ibiza, Palma and Benicassim stand out; Pontevedra estuary; the coastal fronts of the natural parks of Prat de Cabanes, Albufera, Montgo, Peñal d’Ifac and Salinas de Santa Pola; Santoña marshes, natural parks of Oyambre, Bahía de Cádiz and Marismas de Odiel; and Mar Menor.
Urban wastewater Directive Guide: https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/agua/publicaciones/03_Manual_Directiva_91_271_CEE_tcm30-214069.pdf