Overwhelmed by water bills in Sant Hilari Sacalm: "I've gone from paying 200 euros to 680"

Without prior notice or any change in their consumption habits, in October some residents of Sant Hilari Sacalm began paying more than double or even triple their quarterly water bills. This increase occurred just after the town council of this municipality in the Selva region approved the municipalization of the service, which is now managed by the new municipal company Aigües de Sacalm, responsible for implementing the new rates. The situation has generated considerable outrage in the town, and this week around 500 people—practically 10% of the town's total population—took to the streets to protest, demanding the mayor's resignation, an immediate review of the rates, and greater transparency regarding the new company's operations. The most affected users are shops, bars, and restaurants, as the new ordinance does not recognize them as a separate category, but rather groups them within the industrial sector, intended for large companies with significant activity and employees. At Bar Juani, on the roundabout at the entrance to the town, their water bill has jumped from around €200 to €680 in three months. "The bill covers July and August, because we're closed in September, and we've never received this charge before. I returned the bill because it's unacceptable; they must realize they've made a mistake," explains Micaela. Despite admitting that they use more water than a shop—for the sink, the kitchen, and washing dishes—she considers the €600 unfair: "I have to sell a lot of beer to earn that much," she says. In a much larger restaurant, the bill easily exceeds €1,000, and in a shop with only an emergency restroom, it reaches €300. Residential consumers have also noticed a sharp increase in their water bills, as the new contract imposes a much higher penalty for switching providers. "Before, it cost me 40-something euros every quarter; now it's 108 euros," explains Albert Santaugini, whose consumption exceeds 30 cubic meters. The mayor of Sant Hilari, Jordi Rotllant, admits that the City Council has made several mistakes in applying the new rates and that they are working to correct them soon. "From the outset, we recognized that there had been several errors, especially with businesses, which had been charged the industrial rate, making their costs much higher. For these cases, it's necessary to create a new category similar to the residential rate," he acknowledges. And regarding private individuals, he concludes: "It's true that average consumption is higher than we thought, so we believe we need to rethink the pricing for the different tiers." Income for investments

This week's protest wasn't the first against the municipal government's water rates. At the end of October, around five hundred residents also took to the streets. That demonstration was spontaneous, organized through a social media campaign, and it was from that moment that the Platform in Defense of Water was formed, the organizer of this second protest. Lawyer Albert Fauria, who was born in Sant Hilari but doesn't live there, provides legal counsel to the new association. "The creation of the new company, with 51% owned by Aigües de Sacalm and 49% by Agbar, was approved unanimously by the council [although the opposition parties have now distanced themselves], but its implementation has revealed some completely abnormal aspects and a worrying lack of transparency," he says.

The City Council justifies the price increase by citing the need to raise more money for investments in the outdated water distribution network. While acknowledging the need for improvements, the platform laments that, according to the bylaws of the joint venture, Agbar charges 8% of total revenue for its management services. "If more revenue than ever is needed to recoup these investments, Agbar shouldn't be taking 8%. It should be a percentage of the profits so that the cost isn't passed directly on to consumers," argues Fauria.

The City Council admits mistakes and promises bonuses

The municipal government assures that after the first demonstration, steps were taken to inform the public and that, in response to the second protest, attempts were made to bridge the gap. However, Rotllant clarifies that "a return to the zero tariff is not possible, as it hadn't increased for 13 years and investments are needed." To prevent the system works from excessively impacting bills and to ensure that increases are gradual, the council has commissioned an external study to recalculate prices, allocating only to the investments planned for this year. For now, the City Council must build a reservoir, with a portion subsidized, and the intention is that subsequent bills this year will only reflect the amortization costs of this construction. The municipal government plans to apply the new prices to the billing for the quarter ending December 31st, and also intends for this to be retroactive, which would entail discounts for the differences for affected users in October.