Water will be free for more than 60,000 vulnerable metropolitan households

BarcelonaMore than 60,000 vulnerable families in the metropolitan area of Barcelona will be able to benefit from a 100% rebate on the first two sections of the water bill with a social tariff, which will mean a progressive increase of 1.5% on average for the rest of users.

Barcelona City Council's Councillor for Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition, Eloi Badia, announced the decision, taken in agreement with the 23 metropolitan municipalities supplied by Aigües de Barcelona, the metropolitan water company, which have evaluated the company's proposal to increase this rebate from 50% to 100%.

"Families at risk of social exclusion, with members who are unemployed, in housing emergency or energy poverty will be able to see the 100% bonus on the fixed quota of the first and second tranche, which is 9 cubic meters of water and, therefore, 300 free liters per household per day", explained the councilor as reported by the agency Efe.

Badia said that the measure could be approved in May and estimates that it will lead to an increase in the number of beneficiaries, who will go from the 45,000 families who now take advantage of the social tariff to more than 60,000, almost 5% of the total. However, the measure will entail a rise for the other 95% of users.

"This is not a rise in the bill. It will not increase billing, but will be a more progressive pricing and, moreover, the increase is not linear: the smallest homes will hardly notice it, but if we make an average among other users, it will mean a rise of 1.5%", Badia said.

Barcelona City Council has also announced that it is working on updating the law on transparency and energy poverty, as well as studying the situation in which some city councils find themselves in terms of the metropolitan service they receive, and has set a deadline of 2 years to define it properly.