During the latest Cabinet session, the government approved a new amendment to ACUAES’s Direct Management Agreement, expanding Spain’s sanitation agenda with 23 actions backed by a 1,586 million euro investment. These measures primarily aim to comply with Directive 91/271/EEC on wastewater treatment while ensuring water supply improvements for communities and boosting irrigation efficiency to aid aquifer recovery.
The modification marks the third amendment to the Direct Management Agreement between the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment (now the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge) and ACUAES, originally formalized on 30 June 2014. In November 2019, the first amendment added 21 actions with an investment of 526 million euros, and last year another amendment refined the investment framework for several projects.
Galindo treatment plant in Bilbao is highlighted in the accompanying visuals. The new amendments reflect the ministry’s commitment to updating water management to a changing climate, delivering structural responses both in regulatory terms and in investment expansion.
For Hugo Morán, the Minister of State for the Environment, this initiative gains particular importance amid persistent drought and the need to use water resources smartly and sustainably. The minister described the measure as a long-term planning effort backed by solid investment, not a one-off remedy.
The agreement enables ACUAES to pursue 23 new actions, with 14 focused on sanitation and wastewater treatment, supported by 1,199 million euros. Notable investments include three wastewater treatment plants in Madrid (South, China and Butarque) totaling nearly 950 million euros; the sanitation and purification improvements in the city of Cáceres, a substantial upgrade to primary treatment, and the WWTP Galindo in Bilbao.
The agreement also funds the expansion and modernization of the Orotava Valley treatment facility in Tenerife, allocating 25 million euros to redevelopment efforts. The plan includes a broader program of capacity upgrades and modernized infrastructure to meet growing demand and environmental standards.
Other projected works span several regions. In Castilla y León, projects include improvements downstream of the Las Cogotas Dam and upgrades to multiple wastewater treatment facilities and collectors in municipalities such as Arcenillas, Cubillos, Molacillos, Pontejos and Valcabado in Zamora, together with El Payo, Sahugo and related networks in Salamanca and Zamora’s outskirts. A separate set of works in Toledo targets sanitation and purification improvements at Villa de Don Fabrique. In Palma de Mallorca, the Palma II wastewater discharge will be relocated and expanded, including the addition of two new treatment lines to boost capacity.
In the Basque Country, improvements at the Galindo WWTP continue, alongside upgrades at the Loiola plant. A new supply-oriented pipeline project to the Bajo del Añarbe Canal is planned, with accompanying investments in Huesca and Jaca and a central Asturias region expansion totaling hundreds of millions of euros to stabilize regional water supply.
Jerte will receive renovations to improve supply to several towns in Cáceres and Granja de San Ildefonso, enhancing water access for local communities. The plan also includes Section 9 of the Béznar-Rules dam system to improve irrigation efficiency for the Unión de Municipios de la Costa Tropical and the Bajo Guadalfeo irrigation community, with total investments of about 105 million euros. A parallel initiative focuses on hydraulic adaptation and environmental restoration of the Zadorra River as it passes through Vitoria, with an allocated 14 million euros.
These investments collectively reduce pressure on aquifers while strengthening regional water security and environmental resilience across multiple areas of Spain, aligning with national water policy objectives and climate-adaptive infrastructure development.
For more information about the program and its implications for water management and regional development, the ministry continues to monitor progress and coordinate with local authorities to ensure efficient execution of the projects.
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