Canary Islands to receive 8 million to lower the cost of agricultural irrigation water

The Government has approved a direct grant of 8,000,000 euros to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands to reduce for farmers the additional cost of desalination and the extraction of water from wells and galleries intended for agricultural irrigation. The measure is articulated through Royal Decree 733/2026, of September 16, approved at the Council of Ministers meeting on the 15th and published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 231, of September 18, 2026, section I, pages 123460 to 123469. The regulation, with official reference BOE-A-2026-19422, enters into force on September 19, 2026, one day after its publication.

The text is based on a finding: the Canary Islands are one of the most arid areas of Spanish territory, with a scarcity of surface waters and the impossibility of obtaining water resources through conventional systems. Irrigation is the main consumer of water on most of the islands, and its sources are groundwater (galleries and wells) and industrial production (desalinated and treated), both of which are energy-intensive processes that increase the cost of obtaining water. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge justifies the direct award, without a public call, on grounds of public, social, and economic interest, and under the mandate of article 14 bis of Law 19/1994, of July 6, amending the Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands, added by Law 8/2018, of November 5, which requires the compensation of prices for desalinated, regenerated, or reused water to equalize them with the rest of the national territory.

The allocation comes from the 2026 extension of the General State Budgets in force in 2025, under budget application 23.05.452A.451 of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. The grant is registered under line 8D10 of the department’s Strategic Grant Plan 2025-2027, within the objective of reducing territorial inequalities. This is not the first time this mechanism has been articulated: Royal Decree 217/2019, Royal Decree 1161/2020, and Royal Decree 1250/2024 regulated equivalent aid, and in 2022, an agreement with the Government of the Canary Islands implemented a contribution of 14,000,000 euros for the same purpose.

Eight million and eligible expenses

The amount of the grant totals 8,000,000 euros, charged to the expenditure budget of the General Directorate of Water, and will be paid in advance. The contribution is compatible with other grants, aid, income, or resources from any public administration, public or private entities, the European Union, or international organizations, provided that the global amount does not exceed the total cost of the subsidized activity.

The following shall be considered eligible expenses:

• Electricity costs derived from the lifting of irrigation water from wells and galleries, or produced in seawater desalination plants and reclaimed water production plants located in the Canary Islands.
• The costs of the audit report included with the application.
• Financial expenses derived from the processing of bank transfers to the irrigators.
• Personnel costs of the beneficiary entity dedicated to the management of the grant.

Severance payments are excluded in all cases.

From water communities to well owners

The beneficiary entity is the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty, which must establish a granting procedure under a competitive bidding system to ensure efficient management of irrigation water. The ultimate beneficiary persons or entities will be those who supply water for agricultural irrigation in the islands coming from wells, galleries, seawater desalination, or reclaimed water production:

• Local entities and public law corporations.
• Public companies or concessionaires.
• Heredamientos and water communities of the Canary Islands.
• User communities provided for in state water legislation.
• Natural or legal persons who produce water and are owners of wells, galleries, facilities, or administrative concessions.

In the case of natural persons, it is required that at least 75% of the water they produce be destined for their own agricultural operation. The ultimate beneficiary entities must pass on the grant received to the cost of the water paid by the irrigators.

Two months to certify and fifteen to execute

The procedure begins ex officio upon the entry into force of the royal decree. The beneficiary entity has two months to submit the documentation and responsible declarations by electronic means. The processing is the responsibility of the Sub-directorate General of Programming and Economic and Budgetary Management of the General Directorate of Water, and the grant is made by resolution of the Secretary of State for the Environment, within a maximum period of three months; if this period passes without an express resolution, it is understood to be rejected by administrative silence. The acceptance of the aid must be communicated within a maximum of fifteen business days.

The execution period is fifteen months starting from December 31, 2026, extendable by up to three additional months if the volume of applications prevents it, and the justification must be presented within six months following the completion of the activity, by means of a justification account with an audit report registered in the Official Registry of Statutory Auditors.

New deadline for the Water Agency of Castilla-La Mancha

The first final provision modifies section 3 of article 6 of Royal Decree 1159/2020, of December 22, which regulates the subsidy to the Water Agency of Castilla-La Mancha, O.A., for works to improve the socioeconomic environment of the towns adjacent to the Entrepeñas and Buendía reservoirs. The execution period may be extended up to a maximum of four years if external causes prevent the full execution of the budget.

The regulation arrives in a context of structural drought in the archipelago and seeks to ensure that the cost of water borne by Canarian farmers is equal to that of the rest of Spain, in addition to curbing the overexploitation of conventional water resources. For the islands’ agricultural sector, one of the pillars of its economy, the aid represents a relief on an energy bill that conditions the viability of irrigated crops.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 231, of September 18, 2026, section I, pp. 123460-123469 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-19422).