In Barcelona province, about 70,000 residents in around 300 informal housing developments do not have adequate, or any, public sewage systems, according to a study by the Barcelona Provincial Council, known as DIBA. The report says this affects 84% of the 367 problematic urbanisations identified in 117 municipalities.
The study says many households rely on individual septic tanks, while some wastewater is discharged directly into public areas. Local mayors say the issue has been unresolved for decades, and that they are negotiating with the Generalitat for solutions.
Joan Galiano, mayor of Bigues i Riells in Vallès Oriental, said his municipality has seen septic tank leakages into public spaces, with resulting health costs. He is among hundreds of Catalan mayors dealing with the same legal and financial barriers.
According to DIBA, councils cannot fund improvements in developments that have not been formally legalised, or recepcionadas, in urban planning terms. Lorena Perona, an urban planning technician at DIBA, said the lack of a sewage network also blocks construction, because a plot cannot be considered buildable without conventional sanitation. More Catalonia news
Mayors are asking for sanitation projects to be processed separately from wider urbanisation plans, so costs can be reduced. Galiano said urbanising three affected areas in Bigues i Riells would cost about €20 million, compared with an annual municipal budget of €12 million. The report also says sanitation is the most expensive part of these projects.
The same study highlights wider service gaps. In Barcelona province, 5,515 residents lack access to a potable water network, while another 38,885 use a network described as being in poor condition. DIBA says 57.5% of the province's urbanisations have water supply problems, often because of leaks in precarious networks built by residents themselves.
Marta Verdejo, mayor of Olivella in Garraf, said her council has spent €5.5 million over eight years to consolidate the high-pressure water network, but still faces an unaffordable cost for the low-pressure network, with an annual budget of €5 million. The report also says 50.7% of the problematic urbanisations have poorly maintained paving, 26.2% have no paving, 32.2% lack lighting, 48.2% have lighting in poor condition, and 68.4% have a deficient electricity supply network. Catalonia updates
DIBA also found that 55% of these urbanisations do not comply with the current urban planning instrument for their territory, meaning the land classification does not match the planning records. By comarca, Vallès Oriental has the most urbanisations lacking basic services, with 58, followed by Maresme with 53 and Baix Llobregat with 39. In proportional terms, Barcelonès has two out of two affected, Garraf 37 out of 40, and Alt Penedès 19 out of 22.
