Laurence Dollimore
THE cities with the highest water bills have been revealed in a new nation-wide study.
The price of water in Spanish municipalities, provincial capitals, autonomous cities and cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants were all put under a magnifying glass.
Carried out by the Fundación de Cajas de Ahorro (Funcas), the study found that Malaga province had average prices 27% higher than the rest of Spain.
Malaga is the 25th most expensive city out of the 79 studied, followed by Marbella, and they are 27.6% and 26.6% pricier than the average respectively.
Meanwhile, Murcia was the priciest in the country, 147% more so than the average.
Despite being the most populated city of Spain, Madrid inhabitants have significantly lower water bills (30.8% lower than the average), ruling out population density as a determining factor in water prices.
So what does determine the price of water?
According to Funcas, it is a mixture of ‘geographical factors’ and ‘urban structure’.
Specifically, the access and availability of water resources in the area, hence very dry Murcia is at the top of the table.
It also cited the current lack of rainfall and the threat of drought.
But despite this, the report said Spain still has some of the cheapest water bills in Europe.
The report also found that whether water was managed by the town hall or by a private entity did not impact the price.
The most expensive cities are managed indirectly i.e with a private company, but so are some of the cheapest.
