The entity emphasizes that the remunicipalization of the service, which serves 237,000 inhabitants, was the result of citizen mobilization to ensure direct management with all the guarantees of a public service, such as efficiency, quality, transparency, citizen participation, and social equity.
According to the Observatory, it is not the first time that private sector interest groups, such as AGBAR (now VEÒLIA) and its local subsidiary MINA, have tried to question public management. They believe that this jeopardizes the large private water business in Catalonia, which is mainly concentrated in municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and covers 80% of the Catalan population.
“"Mina has never formally accredited the private clients it claims and is required to do so."
The Observatory agrees with the Terrassa City Council regarding MINA's lack of accreditation for private clients. Furthermore, it describes MINA's estimate of 20,000 clients as disproportionate, as the company itself acknowledges that it only serves about 700 co-owners or holders, who are not clients of its private businesses but rather co-owners of water rights from the Mina.
Another recurring point used to discredit public water management is the transfer of the Abrera ETAP to the public company of the Generalitat de Catalunya ATL (Aigües Ter-Llobregat), which will be responsible for the high-supply water service from 2026. The Observatory clarifies that this decision was not unilateral by the Terrassa City Council and denies that the city had guaranteed management of the Abrera ETAP until 2060.
Decree Law 4/2018, of July 17, assigned to ATL the management and control of the high-supply water network for populations dependent on the Ter-Llobregat network, as they are owned by the Generalitat de Catalunya. The ACA had not renewed the agreement with the Terrassa City Council, under which TAIGUA managed the Abrera ETAP for the first four years, and subsequently reclaimed the facility for direct management by ATL.
The change in management was carried out with ATL's commitment to guarantee the continuity of the plant's personnel jobs, compensation for unamortized investments (exceeding 6 million euros), and a progressive application of the water sales price per m³ during the first two years, with a joint review in the third year.
The Observatory highlights that TAIGUA has twice exceeded the maximum investment made by MINA in its last nine years of management. TAIGUA's 2026-2029 Investment Plan foresees five million euros annually for the renovation of the distribution network, which includes over 200 km of obsolete fiber cement pipes inherited from MINA, aiming to achieve an annual renovation of 2.4%, well above the Spanish average of 0.2%.
Finally, the Terrassa Water Observatory reaffirms its support for TAIGUA's management, defending public and social water governance based on transparency and the reinvestment of 100% of profits in service improvement and social policies that guarantee the human right to water. They urge the City Council to sever all contractual relations with the private company, which they accuse of bad faith.
