The Basque Water Agency has opened sanctioning file SAN-2026-0005 for violating the water law

The Basque Water Agency —Uraren Euskal Agentzia— has notified the initiation agreement of sanctioning file SAN-2026-0005, for the violation of the Water Law 1/2006, of June 23. The notification was published in issue number 195 of the Official Gazette of the Basque Country, on October 13, 2026, with official reference 2026/4235. The interested party has a period of fifteen days to present allegations, documents, and information.

Initiation of the file and legal basis

The general director of the Basque Water Agency, Asier López Etxebarria, signed the agreement in Vitoria-Gasteiz, on September 18, 2026. The official announcement mentions the Water Law 1/2006, of June 23, as the violation, but does not specify the nature of the unexpected infringement nor the amount of the possible sanction.

That regulation, in its article 7, assigns to the Basque Water Agency —Agencia Vasca del Agua— the interventions for the protection of the hydraulic public domain. The Agency is a private public entity, and its statutes were approved by Decree 178/2023, of November 28. The competence of the general director is based on those statutes.

• Granting of concessions and administrative permits.
• Care and inspection of the hydraulic public domain.
• Sanctioning of infringements against the regulation.

Notification and the interested party

Since personal notification could not be carried out, the announcement has been published in accordance with article 44 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, the Common Administrative Procedure Law of Public Administrations. The interested party is identified in the annex of the official reference:

• ID (NAN) 14834728G.
• File reference SAN-2026-0005.

The announcement explicitly states that the full text and the file are available to the interested party for examination and knowledge, at the agency’s headquarters: Boulevard building, Gamarra entrance 1.A, 11th floor, 01013 Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Deadlines and legal consequences

The period for presenting allegations is fifteen days, counted from the day following the publication. During that period, the interested party may present the allegations, documents, and information they deem appropriate, and, if applicable, propose evidence, specifying the means they wish to use.

The announcement warns that if no allegations are made regarding the content of the initiation of the procedure within that period, the initiation agreement may be taken as a proposed resolution, in accordance with article 64 of Law 39/2015.

• Period: fifteen days, from the day after publication.
• Consequence: in the absence of allegations, the initiation agreement may become a proposed resolution.
• File: available for examination at the agency’s headquarters.

Impact and context

This notification does not impose any sanction; it initiates the procedure and recognizes the right of defense for the interested party. As the announcement itself specifies, the notification will have effects from the day after it is published in the Official State Gazette.

In recent months, the Basque Water Agency has published similar announcements in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country to provide information on activities carried out in the water sector. Among these is, among others, the request from the Azpeitia City Council to modify the characteristics of the concession to draw public water from the Sistiaga stream, under file MCA-G-2026-0008.

The initiation of a sanctioning procedure is not a penalty, but it has clear practical consequences for the interested party: if no allegations are made once the deadline has passed, the initial agreement becomes a proposed resolution, which limits the direction of the procedure. Furthermore, the publication of the announcement serves as a substitute for personal notification, establishing the official starting point for any appeal or defense action.

Fuente: Official Gazette of the Basque Country, No. 195, October 13, 2026, Section I (ANNOUNCEMENTS – Other official announcements) (official reference: 2026/4235).