One of the miracles that Barcelona preserves is the Ponderosa vegetable gardens, in the Vallbona neighborhood and right next to the Rec Comtal. A large part of this last great agricultural space of the Catalan capital survives on land that, as ARA has been able to confirm, changed hands at the end of 2024. In November of that year, the public-private company Aigües de Barcelona (Agbar) acquired a plot of almost nine hectares in the Nou Barris district, on the border between Barcelona and Montcada, located between roads and train tracks, but key for the city and also for the management of the water that reaches it.

Veolia has finalized the disappearance process of the Agbar brand – the former holding company of the Societat General d'Aigües de Barcelona (SGAB) – born more than 158 years ago. The French multinational, which has the investment arm of La Caixa, Criteria, as one of its shareholders with 5%, has registered the absorption of the company Veolia Spain by Veolia Agbar, according to the Official Bulletin of the Commercial Registry (Borme).

The Agbar brand, born from the company founded 158 years ago, has its days numbered. Specifically, it has six months left. Veolia, the French multinational that owns it, has decided to unify the entire group and its activities under a single brand. The change affects more than 100 local brands.

The Generalitat and the company Acciona are negotiating to definitively close the conflict over the privatization of Aigües Ter Llobregat (ATLL), according to what was announced this Thursday The Vanguard and sources from the Government have confirmed to ARA. The negotiation is focused on how much the Government should pay the company for the loss of profits.

The mayor of Barcelona and president of the Metropolitan Area (AMB), Ada Colau, has rejected this morning the proposal of Aigües de Barcelona to raise the water bill by 7.37% in 2022. In a document to which ARA has had access, the company justifies that this increase "is necessary for the economic and financial balance of the operation". The proposed percentage is much higher than the average CPI increase for 2021, which was 2.3%. The new rate affects the citizens of the 23 municipalities of the Barcelona area, some 3 million people, who if this increase were to take place would notice it by each paying about €12 more by the end of the year.