Bañares formally approves new drinking water tariffs

The Bañares City Council has definitively approved the modification of the fiscal ordinance regulating the fees for drinking water supply, including connection rights. The agreement, adopted as final since no claims were filed during the public exhibition period, is published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja number 162, dated August 25, 2026, pages 14754 and 14755, with official reference BOR-A-20260825-III–3284.

The modification was provisionally approved by the Municipal Plenary in a session held on June 10, 2026, by the unanimity of the four members present, with five being the legal number of the Corporation. The file was subject to public information for thirty business days via a notice posted on the bulletin board and published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja number 111, dated June 15, 2026.

New Consumption Fees

The ordinance, in its article 6 on tax quotas, sets a minimum fee of 0.28 euros per home, industry, and premises every six months, for consumption up to 20 cubic meters. Beyond that minimum, the price per cubic meter consumed varies according to use:

• Homes: 0.36 euros per m³.
• Commercial premises: 0.43 euros per m³.
• Industrial premises: 0.50 euros per m³.

Connection and Conservation Rights

The regulation also governs the connection rights and maintenance fees that service users must pay:

• Connection rights: 300 euros for each home and commercial premises, to be paid as a one-time fee upon request.
• Plot-edge connections: 20 euros annually for maintenance and conservation, for future connections or new buildings.
• Conservation fee: 20 euros per semester for all users registered for the service.

Legal Framework and Validity

The definitive approval is based on article 17.3 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5, which approves the Recast Text of the Law Regulating Local Treasuries, and article 49 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the Bases of Local Regime. The agreement, signed on August 21, 2026, by the mayor-president, Antonio Santiago Ortiz de Landázuri Llamazares, and certified by the secretary Laura Pablo Castro, is inserted in full in the gazette for the purposes of its entry into force.

An administrative-law appeal may be filed against the agreement and the ordinance before the High Court of Justice of La Rioja, in the manner and within the time limits established by the regulating norms of said jurisdiction.

The update of the rates, justified by the city council as an alignment of the fees with the actual cost of the service, affects all residents of Bañares, both in the periodic water bills and in the one-time payments for new connections. The entry into force of the new fees requires households and businesses in the municipality to adjust their expenditure forecasts, in a context where the council seeks to guarantee the financial sustainability of the supply.

Source: Official Gazette of La Rioja, no. 162, August 25, 2026, section III. Other provisions and acts, pp. 14754-14755 (official reference: BOR-A-20260825-III–3284).