Castalla opens the drinking water and sanitation regulations for public consultation

The Castalla City Council has initially approved the regulation that will govern the provision of the drinking water supply and sanitation service in the municipality. The decision was adopted by the City Council-Plenary in the session of September 30, 2026, and is now published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante number 194, dated October 13, 2026, with reference 7625/2026. The text is open for public information for 30 business days for interested parties to submit allegations.

The announcement is inserted in section III, Local Administration, of the provincial gazette and responds to the plenary agreement for the initial approval of the regulation for the provision of the drinking water supply and sanitation service in the municipal district of Castalla. The public information period is thirty business days and is calculated starting from the day following the publication of the announcement in the Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante, that is, from October 14, 2026.

During this period, those who may consider themselves interested parties in the proceedings are called to appear and to formulate whatever allegations, suggestions, or claims they deem appropriate. The announcement is signed by the mayor, Jesús López Blanco, and the full text of the regulation is available to interested parties on the electronic headquarters of the Castalla City Council.

Deadline and channels for participation

• Deadline: thirty business days from the day following the publication of the announcement.
• Start date of the count: October 14, 2026, following the publication on October 13, 2026.
• Object of the consultation: the regulation for the provision of the drinking water supply and sanitation service.
• Admitted content: allegations, suggestions, or claims from parties interested in the proceedings.
• Resolving body: the City Council-Plenary of Castalla.
• Reference document: announcement 7625/2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante No. 194.

Subsequent processing of the regulation

The announcement specifies that, if no claims or suggestions are submitted within the indicated period, the regulation will be considered definitively approved without the need for an express agreement by the Plenary. In other words, the initial approval becomes definitive automatically if the public information phase concludes without objections.

Otherwise, the corporation must resolve the submitted allegations and rule on the text again before it enters into force. The publication of the initial agreement in the provincial gazette is, therefore, the procedure that formally opens citizen participation and the previous step to the definitive approval of the regulation.

Scope of the new regulation

The regulation governs the provision of drinking water supply and sanitation services throughout the municipality of Castalla, directly affecting the users and subscribers of the integrated water cycle. The norm establishes the operational framework for an essential service under municipal jurisdiction, from abstraction and supply to the collection and treatment of wastewater.

The initial approval was agreed upon during the same plenary session on September 30, 2026, in which the Castalla City Council adopted other management agreements, such as the internal control model under a regime of auditing and limited prior intervention, published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante No. 188, dated October 2, 2026.

The relevance of the news is twofold: on one hand, the regulation provides the municipality with its own regulatory framework for a basic service; on the other, the open public information period allows subscribers and any interested party to influence the text before it is finalized. Those wishing to file an objection have thirty business days from October 14, 2026, to do so.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante, No. 194 of October 13, 2026, Section III. Local Administration, page 1 (official reference: 7625/2026).