The mayor of Valdepeñas, Jesús Martín, has lamented this Wednesday the dissemination of a video by the PP of the locality in which they criticize the environmental water canon of Castilla-La Mancha, which almost all autonomous communities apply to their municipalities, due to a European Union directive that came into force in the year 2000.
The municipal official has described the video of the Popular Party as «deceitful and dishonest,» where the PP spokesperson criticizes that «the mayor is silent and Page gets paid.» In this regard, he has stated that «the mayor of Valdepeñas is going to do the same as the mayors of Ciudad Real, Puertollano, or Tomelloso, who are from the Popular Party. What are the mayors of Ciudad Real, Puertollano, and Tomelloso going to do? Nothing. Comply with the law.»
In this sense, he has pointed out that the fee, which amounts to an average of 1.5 euros per bill in Valdepeñas, began to be implemented through a European directive in the year 2000, «which is when Feijóo already established it in Galicia, being from the PP, so the people of Castilla-La Mancha have been saving this fee for 20 years.» The fee is also implemented in communities such as Madrid, Valencia, La Rioja, Murcia, Extremadura, or Cantabria, among others.
Regarding the destination of the money, which the PP video claims that «75% goes to Page, and the rest is distributed as he wants,» the mayor has explained that «obviously, the money does not go to Page, this fee that is paid is distributed, by order of the European Economic Community.» Therefore, he has indicated that «75% is allocated for each autonomous community to optimize water resources to ensure its potability, and 25% is sent by the autonomous community to the municipalities with a finalistic character, allocating it entirely to the optimization of resources in each locality, and in our case, it is for the improvement of water networks.»
Price of water
According to demographics, the mayor has stated that «Valdepeñas is the city in the province with the cheapest water, based on the number of inhabitants.» In terms of the cost per cubic meter of water, Martín has specified that Tomelloso, with 36,720 inhabitants, pays 0.34 euros per cubic meter; Valdepeñas with 30,617 inhabitants at 0.37 euros; Alcázar de San Juan, with 31,389 inhabitants at 0.41 euros; Daimiel, with 17,645 inhabitants at 0.66 euros; Ciudad Real capital, with 75,909 inhabitants, at 0.860 euros; Puertollano, with 45,195 inhabitants at 0.91 euros; and Bolaños de Calatrava, with only 12,067 inhabitants, at 1.30 euros.
Regarding exemptions and bonuses for the regional water canon, which is expected to amount to an average of 1.5 euros per bill in Valdepeñas and is applied from January 1, 2025 in Castilla-La Mancha, there are bonuses that must be requested. The first 10,000 liters of water consumed each month are exempt from payment. There are also 50% discounts for large families and 100% for victims of gender violence and people at risk of exclusion. The primary sector also has exemptions and bonuses.
In the case of non-domestic consumption, there are 50% bonuses on the full fee of the canon for agri-food cooperatives or agricultural transformation societies, while agricultural and livestock consumption is exempt from this tax if it does not use the general network.