Benidorm and the Generalitat (Regional Government) sign a cooperation agreement to invest 14.5 million euros in the water treatment and recycling

Benidorm City Council and the Regional Government signed the Cooperation Agreement for Financing of Improvements and Replacement this Monday of the Benidorm Municipality's Wastewater Treatment and Sewage Treatment Facilities. This agreement will result in an investment of €14,520,000 to resolve deficiencies and address outstanding needs for strategic infrastructure for the treatment and reuse of water in the city, such as wastewater pumping stations (WPSs) and the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The investment will be made through EPSAR, the Public Wastewater Treatment Company of the Valencian Community, which reports to the Regional Ministry of Environment, Infrastructure, and Territory.

The agreement was signed this Monday at the Benidorm WWTP facilities by the city's mayor, Toni Pérez; the president of the Valencian Regional Government, Carlos Mazón; and the Regional Minister for the Environment, Infrastructure, and Territory, Vicente Martínez Mus, before a large group of public representatives. Among them were members of the local government; mayors and councilors from other municipalities in the Marina Baixa region; the Regional Council delegate in Alicante, Agustina Esteve, along with other regional representatives; regional representatives José Ramón González de Zárate and Manuel Pérez Fenoll; and the Vice President of the Provincial Council, Ana Serna. The signing of this agreement, following its unanimous approval at the municipal plenary session last March and subsequent authorization by the Generalitat, includes a package of actions aimed at resolving the deficiencies in the electrical and structural installations of the wastewater pumping stations (EWPS) and addressing the renovation needs of the current Benidorm WWTP, particularly its old line (Line B) and the sludge line, deficiencies caused by the passage of time (the plant began operating in 1984) as well as by "the paralysis and lack of investment" by the regional government of PSOE and Compromís, which between 2015 and 2023 only invested €120,000 in this treatment plant, even though the residents pay a sanitation fee that was never reinvested," as noted by Minister Martínez Mus and Mayor Toni Pérez.

Specifically, the works to be carried out as a result of this agreement include the renovation of the electrical installations at the Benidorm wastewater pumping stations (WPS), budgeted at €2,420,000; the renovation and repair of the Parque de Elche WPS, with a budget of €1,210,000; the improvement of the old water treatment line (Plant No. 2) at the WWTP, a project valued at €2,420,000; the improvement of the sludge treatment line at the WWTP, the largest project, with a budget of €7,260,000; and the renovation of the personnel, control, and workshop buildings at this wastewater treatment plant, with another €1,210,000.

Mayor Toni Pérez expressed his gratitude to the Consell and stated that "since 2023, it has been fulfilling its commitments to Benidorm, a city that is finally receiving the support of a Consell committed to its land." In this regard, he noted that "Carlos Mazón is the first president of the Generalitat (Regional Government) to visit this place in the ten years I have been mayor," despite it being a strategic infrastructure for the region, where 100% of Benidorm's wastewater is treated, 100% of the wastewater from l'Alfàs del Pi, and, to varying degrees, that of La Nucía and Finestrat, as well as that of other municipalities in the Marina Baixa region in cases of need.

Furthermore, he stated that, given the lack of investment from the previous regional government of the PSOE and Compromís parties, Benidorm City Council has invested 7.5 million euros in municipal funds in this plant. He argued that the agreement signed with the Generalitat represents "a historic investment and one of the most significant investments made in the last 25 years that will contribute to the sustainability of our population and our region."

Finally, Toni Pérez recalled that this treatment plant, designed in 1978 and which had been requested since 1963, "was born from the generosity of the irrigators of Benidorm and the Canal Bajo del Algar, who agreed to give up their clean water flows to Benidorm in exchange for irrigating their fields with treated water." He also maintained that this new investment "is an example of that well-understood solidarity, especially during an extreme drought like the current one."

For his part, the President of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Carlos Mazón, insisted on describing the planned investment in Benidorm's sewage, treatment, and water reuse network as "historic," with which "the Generalitat is settling a significant debt to this city." He also announced that the Generalitat will soon add another investment of 15.5 million euros through an agreement to be signed with the Alicante Provincial Council to carry out 27 additional projects in the province.

"We said it from the beginning, and today we insist that this will be the legislature for water, because without water we have no present or future," stated the head of the Consell (Catalan Government). At the same time, he criticized the cuts implemented by Pedro Sánchez's government in the Tajo-Segura water transfer, in contrast to the water reuse practiced in the Valencian Community: "We are the autonomous community that reuses the most water in Spain, generating 40% of all reused water, and by the end of the legislative period, we will reach 45%," he asserted.

He also noted that during the current legislative period, €204 million will be invested in water treatment, of which more than €100 million has already been committed. He affirmed that, with these measures, "we will reach zero discharge by the end of the legislative period."
More information about the projects

The investment to be made by the Generalitat (Generalitat) in the city's wastewater treatment, purification, and reuse system, which will be carried out through the Public Wastewater Treatment Entity (EPSAR), will total €14,520,000, including VAT, and will encompass various projects over four years.

The purpose of all these works is to resolve the deficiencies in the electrical and structural installations of the wastewater pumping stations, as well as to address the renovation needs of the current Benidorm WWTP, particularly its old line, known as 'Line B'.

In all cases, EPSAR will cover 90% of the cost of the works—that is, €13,068,000 million—while Benidorm City Council, as the owner of all existing infrastructure and that to be implemented in each of these projects, will commit to paying the remaining 10%—€1,452,000—from 2025 to 2028.