Abstract
In Catalonia, 81% of the population receives their water from private operators; this has a direct impact on water governance, which has been hijacked by the main private operator, Agbar, with the connivance of the public administration. Since 2010, there has been a slow but steady process of remunicipalisation, with 32 Catalan municipalities having regained public water management, 28 more in the process of doing so and 150 further concessions that have expired or will expire by 2030. At the same time, 20 citizens’ groups have been set up in municipalities and are struggling to regain public, democratic water management. This article describes the growing remunicipalisation process in Catalonia and the response of the transnational company that manages water.
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Source Aigua és Vida
Source Aigua és Vida
Source Aigua és Vida
Source Aigua és Vida
Source Aigua és Vida
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Notes
In January 2022, Veolia’s tender offer over Suez was formalized. Veolia already controls 95.95% of the capital of Suez.
https://amap.cat/ca/estatuts/ AMAP statutes, article 2 (finalitat I activitats).
https://www.media.cat/2019/02/11/agbar-publicitat-mitjans-publics/ La batalla publicitària d’Agbar als mitjans públics catalans.
https://directa.cat/les-clavegueres-de-la-guerra-de-laigua/ Les clavegueres de la guerra de l’aigua.
https://aiguabcn.org/en/agreement/agreement/ Agreement for a Public and Democratic Water System in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona.
Valoració dels actius afectes al servei d’abastament en baixa i sanejament en alta operats per la societat aigües de barcelona, empresa metropolitana de gestió del cicle integral de l’aigua, s.a., a 31 December 2012. https://docs.amb.cat/alfresco/api/-default-/public/alfresco/versions/1/nodes/1938a951-8b99-4262-a306-eb35587ed591/content/Resum_valoraci%C3%B3%20actius+cicle+de+l%27aigua?attachment=false&mimeType=application/pdf&sizeInBytes=6100010.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXfm6J0jl44 Short documentary: Barcelona’s water business scam.
References
Agencia Catalana de l'Aigua (ACA). 2021. Estudi del preu de l'Aigua. Informe Anual.
Heller, Leo. 2020. A/75/208: Los derechos humanos y la privatización de los servicios de agua y saneamiento.
Le Strat, Anne. 2019. Una victoria contra las multinacionales: La batalla por el agua de Paris. Icaria.
Marín, Gonzalo, Míriam Planas, and Leandro del Moral. 2022. Los abusos de poder en la defensa de la gestión privada del agua. Espacio Público, 24 February.
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Planas Martín, M., Maschio Gastelaars, D. & Pérez Gómez, Q. Remunicipalisation in Catalonia: Strategies and Responses. Development 65, 228–236 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-022-00355-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-022-00355-y