Water rates will rise by 2.9% next year in the Barcelona metropolitan area

BarcelonaThe drinking water tariff will increase in 2026 by 2.9% (approximately €0.40/month) in the 23 municipalities of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) supplied by the metropolitan public-private company Aigües de Barcelona, and between 2.9% and 5.8% in the six municipalities where the supply is provided by the company itself. The remaining tariff conditions, such as consumption blocks and the social tariff, will remain the same as in 2025. The AMB, which approved this increase at its November metropolitan council meeting, explained that the updated tariffs reflect the approximately 7% that users pay for the purchase of this water (at the wholesale level) from Aigües Ter-Llobregat in the metropolitan area. Three other factors also influence the increase in the final tariff: a €0.5 million increase in an investment fund to carry out works resulting from the drought period—reaching a total of €8 million—various actions in the commercial cycle, and the increase in inflation.

The AMB considers the 2.9% increase in drinking water tariffs for 2026 to be "moderate" and points out that it is "a value similar to the projected future CPI" and lower than the increase approved for 2025, when the bill increased by 6%. According to the AMB, in absolute terms the increase represents an increase of 0.40 euros per month (0.80 euros per bimonthly bill) per family unit or home subscriber (6 m³ per month, in a household with two people and a consumption of 100 liters per day per inhabitant, and residing in type B housing).

In 2026, the AMB maintains the policy of varying the limits of the consumption blocks according to the number of people in the family unit, so that when the family unit consists of more than three people the tariff is lower, and the social tariff, consisting of not paying the service fee for either the first or second block, is provided to eligible family units.

In Cervelló, Corbera de Llobregat, Palma de Cervelló, Ripollet, Sant Andreu de la Barca and Tiana, the six metropolitan municipalities that are not supplied by Aigües de Barcelona, ​​the increase in the water tariff varies between 2.9% and 5.8% according to the AMB.

600 public housing units

Furthermore, the AMB council has also approved the special urban development plan to build social housing in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Santa Coloma de Cervelló, and Sant Adrià de Besòs. The aim of the measure is "to implement new public housing that will help alleviate the current difficulties in accessing housing," the AMB reported in a statement. The plan envisions the construction of these homes on five publicly owned plots of land designated for public facilities. Across the five sites (three located in the municipality of Sant Feliu and the other two in Santa Coloma de Cervelló and Sant Adrià), a potential buildable area of 43,849 square meters is proposed, which could allow for the construction of approximately 600 public rental housing units, according to the statement.