Urban Water: Commodifi cation and Social Resistance in Spain

Abstract

The debate between public and private management of urban water services focuses on the ideological battle of the different policy options. Spain has experienced conditions favorable to the privatization process over the past thirty years. Recently this trend has been reinforced by the strategic reorientation of the multinational water companies towards mature markets and the improper use of concession fees by the municipalities. The lack of municipal resources, the central administration’s imposition of austerity and reform programs on local governments and the weaknesses of regulation have reinforced that trend. The Spanish model of privatizing urban water management is costly for the citizen: it increases water rates; it is environmentally unsustainable; because increased water consumption benefits businesses the most, transparency is dispensed with as there are no regulatory bodies or indicators of management quality and reliable statistics; it is exclusive, since it endangers the water access of many vulnerable groups; and it causes a real loss of control when the authorities in charge are sometimes forced to renew the services without competitive bidding. For all these reasons, the current process of water management privatization in Spain is also triggering a social movement of resistance to confront the commodification of this vital resource. Beyond the relative success achieved by citizen protests, only by harmonizing the interests of legislative reformers and citizen advocates can the trend towards privatization be reversed. It is necessary to establish a broad consensus through a public water agreement to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability.