Candasnos imposes a new fee on supplier companies.

The Candasnos City Council has definitively approved the levy for the private use or special use of the land, subsoil and airspace of the local public domain, which will tax companies supplying electricity, water, telecommunications and hydrocarbons. The agreement, adopted by the Plenary at its ordinary session of 30 April 2026, became final as no objections were submitted during the public exhibition period, and its tax ordinance is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Huesca number 153, of 13 August 2026 (reference BOPH-2026-153005).

The ordinance is based on articles 133.3 and 142 of the Spanish Constitution, article 106 of Law 7/1985, Regulating the Bases of Local Government, and articles 20 et seq. of the Consolidated Text of the Law Regulating Local Finance, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004 of 5 March; its publication complies with the requirements of article 17.4 of that provision. The rates are supported by the technical-economic report prepared by the consultancy MOORE IBÉRICA CONSULTORES, S.L., dated 20 June 2025, and by an extensive series of judgments of the Supreme Court, from judgments 2708/2016 and 2726/2016 up to 718/2024, 730/2024, 735/2024 and the most recent 430/2025.

Who the new levy taxes

The taxable persons are natural and legal persons and other entities referred to in article 35.4 of Law 58/2003, the General Taxation Law, that enjoy or use the local public domain, mainly companies that produce, transport, distribute or market:

electricity;
water;
telecommunications;
gas and hydrocarbons (gas pipelines, oil pipelines and associated elements).

The taxable event consists of lines, pipelines, galleries, poles, cables, inspection boxes, transformers and other installations that occupy or overhang public roads and land within the municipal area, including communal property.

How the fee is calculated

Following Supreme Court Judgment 718/2024 of 26 April, the ordinance distinguishes two methodologies: private use, whose base takes the value of the land (according to the municipality’s MBR) plus the value of the installations, with the amounts from the report of 16 October 2015 of the National Commission on Markets and Competition, and special use, which is calculated based on the benefit obtained. The tax rates are 5% of the taxable base for private use and 100% for special use.

The annex of rates sets the unit charges per installation, among others:

overhead lines over 400 kV: €7.60 per meter;
underground lines over 132 kV: €33.19 per meter;
towers over 24 meters: €82.55 per support;
transformer: €245.38;
gas pipeline up to 4 inches: €0.50 per meter;
water pipe up to 10 centimeters in diameter: €0.35 per meter.

Management, accrual and appeals

The tax period coincides with the calendar year and the tax accrues on 1 January of each fiscal year, except for new uses, which are settled when applying for the license or from the start of use. Payment for existing installations is made in the first quarter of the year, and direct debit entitles the payer to a 5% discount on the fee. The ordinance shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the official bulletin and shall remain in force for subsequent fiscal years until it is expressly amended or repealed.

An administrative contentious appeal may be lodged against the resolution before the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Aragon, based in Zaragoza, within two months of its publication. The notice is signed by the mayor, José Santiago Guallarte Ballestar, in Candasnos, on 11 August 2026.

With this fee, Candasnos incorporates a new source of revenue that taxes large supply companies for occupying the land, subsoil and airspace of its public domain, following the consolidated criterion of the Supreme Court since 2016 and the fees endorsed by the technical-economic study. The measure reinforces the municipality’s financial autonomy against the operators of electricity, water, telecommunications and hydrocarbon networks that pass through its municipal district.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Province of Huesca, No. 153, 13 August 2026, Local Administration (Candasnos City Council), pp. 20-30 (official reference: BOPH-2026-153005).