Aínsa-Sobrarbe initially approves a tax on electricity, water, and telecommunications companies

The Aínsa-Sobrarbe City Council has initially approved Fiscal Ordinance No. 33, which creates a fee for the private use or special exploitation of the soil, subsoil, and airspace of the local public domain in favor of companies operating supply services in the electricity, water, telecommunications, and hydrocarbon sectors. The agreement was adopted by the Extraordinary Plenary on October 28, 2026, by a sufficient legal majority. The announcement is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Huesca No. 209, dated October 30, 2026, with the official reference BOPH-2026-209003, and opens a 30-day period for public information.

The regulation is supported by the taxing power recognized for local entities by articles 133.3 and 142 of the Spanish Constitution, article 106 of Law 7/1985 regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, and article 24.1.a) of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, which approves the Revised Text of the Law Regulating Local Treasuries. The file includes a technical-economic report prepared by Moore Ibérica Consultores, S.L. dated July 23, 2026, accompanied by a technical geolocation report endorsed by the Official College of Geomatic and Topographic Engineering.

The City Council applies the general regime of article 24.1.a) and not the special quantification regime of article 24.1.c), a distinction that the ordinance justifies with the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court (judgments from 2016 to 2025) regarding the market value of the utility derived from the occupation of the public domain.

What is taxed and who is obligated

The taxable event consists of lines, pipes, and galleries for electric energy, water, gas, or any other fluid conduits, including poles, cables, brackets, mooring, distribution, or registration boxes, transformers, rails, and scales installed on public roads or local public domain lands, or that fly over them.

• Private use: installations that prevent the common use of the asset, such as poles, towers, transformers, and boxes.
• Special exploitation: installations that do not prevent common use, such as overhead power lines and underground pipes and galleries.

The taxpayers are natural and legal persons and the entities referred to in article 35.4 of the General Tax Law 58/2003 that are companies or operators in the water, gas, electricity, and hydrocarbon sectors and utilize the municipal public domain for private benefit.

Rates of 5% and 100% and a tariff annex

The ordinance sets two rates, in accordance with Article 64 of Law 25/1998: 5% of the taxable base for elements of private use and 100% for those of special use. For the latter case, the report applies a utility of 2.5% on the value of the constructions, with a 40-year depreciation, and contrasts it with the average return on assets of 3.33% for Red Eléctrica Corporación, Iberdrola, and Endesa between 2020 and 2024.

The tariff annex sets unit fees such as the following:

• Tower over 24 meters: 82.55 euros per unit; tower under 12 meters: 38.35 euros.
• Transformer: 245.35 euros per unit.
• Overhead line over 400 kV: 13.93 euros per linear meter; line from 1 to 12 kV: 1.72 euros.
• Underground line over 132 kV: 32.68 euros per linear meter; under 1 kV: 1.82 euros.
• Gas pipeline up to 4 inches: 0.40 euros per meter; over 20 inches: 1.22 euros.
• Water pipe up to 10 centimeters in diameter: 0.25 euros per meter; over 50 centimeters: 0.57 euros.

The calculation is based on a basic land impact module (MBR7) of 37.80 euros, with a municipal coefficient of 0.1 and an extensive coefficient of 0.015. The ordinance also provides for a 5% fee discount for those who set up direct debit payment.

Thirty days to examine the file

The file is subject to public information for 30 days starting from the day following the insertion of the announcement in the Bulletin, in accordance with Article 17.2 of the Recast Text of the Law Regulating Local Treasuries. Interested parties may consult it at the municipal offices and on the municipal electronic office and submit any claims they deem appropriate.

If no claim is submitted after the period has elapsed, the provisional agreement will be understood as definitively approved without the need for a new plenary agreement. The announcement was signed in Aínsa on October 29, 2026, by the Mayor-President, Enrique Pueyo García.

The final provision of the text sets the entry into force on the day of its publication in the Official Provincial Gazette, remaining in effect for successive fiscal years until its express modification or repeal, while the announcement keeps the allegations process open prior to definitive approval.

Impact for the municipality

The tax turns the passage of energy, water, and telecommunications infrastructure through the municipal district into a recurring source of income for the coffers of Aínsa-Sobrarbe, in line with the wave of similar ordinances approved in recent years under the doctrine of the Supreme Court. For companies in the sector, it represents a new annual cost linked to the inventory of installations, and for the residents, the confirmation that the use of public land by these companies is now taxed and monitored.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Huesca, no. 209, October 30, 2026, Local Administration, page 5 (official reference: BOPH-2026-209003).