Conesa initially approves the public domain tax for utility companies

The Conesa City Council has initially approved the fiscal ordinance regulating the tax for the private use or special exploitation of the local public domain by companies or entities operating supply services. The agreement was adopted in an ordinary plenary session on October 1, 2026, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Tarragona on October 16, 2026, with the reference CVE 2026-09354 (p. 1-1). The text is now subject to public consultation for 30 business days.

The announcement, electronically signed by the mayor Rosa Maria Berenguer Luaces on October 7, 2026, does not reproduce the articulated text of the ordinance: this is available in full in the administrative file, accessible through the validation service of the municipal electronic office with the code AB27C623488E4ECCADF06334D67C6BAB. The regulation is framed within the tax powers of local entities recognized by Article 106 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the bases of the local regime, and by Articles 24.1.C and 57 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5, approving the revised text of the Law regulating local treasuries.

The measure aligns with the standard model that the Provincial Council of Tarragona approved by presidential decree on September 18, 2026 (number 2026-0006445), published in the BOP on September 24, 2026, under the reference CVE 2026-08770 (p. 101-105), which includes Fiscal Ordinance number 7 for the 2027 financial year with the same purpose.

What the tax levies and who it affects

The reference model establishes that the taxable event is the private use or special exploitation of the soil, subsoil, or airspace of municipal public roads by companies providing supply services through networks. The included services are:

• Water supply.
• Gas supply.
• Electricity supply.
• Fixed telephony and cable television.
• Other services that require the existence of networks.

Mobile telephony and fixed telephony, when the operating company is not the owner of the network, are excluded from the special quantification regime. The taxable persons are the natural and legal persons who own the operating companies, including distributors and marketers, whether they own the networks or have rights of use, access, or interconnection.

Base, rate, and management

According to the model, the taxable base is the figure of gross income from billing obtained within the municipal term, minus the amounts paid to the owner of third-party networks. The tax rate is 1.5 per 100 of this base.

Management is carried out via quarterly self-assessment, with electronic submission through the electronic office of BASE-Gestió d’Ingressos, an autonomous body of the Diputació de Tarragona, within two months following each calendar quarter. The fee is compatible with the tax on constructions, installations, and works and with other local taxes, and provides no exemptions other than those established by law or international treaties.

Deadlines and entry into force

The plenary agreement establishes three steps:

• Public information period of 30 business days for interested parties to examine the file and submit claims or suggestions.
• If no allegations are submitted, the provisional agreement becomes final without the need for a new plenary agreement.
• Publication of the final agreement and the full text in the BOP and on the municipal electronic office.

The ordinance will enter into force once published in full and after the period specified in article 65.2 of Law 7/1985 has elapsed. As a recent precedent, the BOP of September 25, 2026, published the final approval of an equivalent ordinance in Vallmoll (CVE 2026-08615), after the allegations period closed without claims.

The fee does not fall directly on the users, but on the billing of the supplying companies, thus opening a new source of municipal income linked to the effective occupation of the subsoil and the airspace of the public road. For residents, the main impact is indirect: it increases the operating cost of the networks serving the municipality and strengthens the fiscal capacity of a small council, which will have to manage the tax through the provincial body.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Tarragona, no. 2026-09354, October 16, 2026, section I, p. 1-1 (official reference: CVE 2026-09354).