The Provincial Council of Ávila subsidizes 80% of water supplied by tankers in small villages

The Provincial Council of Ávila has opened the call for grants to finance the supply of drinking water via tankers in the province’s municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, for which it will cover 80% of the expense. The measure was approved by Presidency Resolution of October 26, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Ávila number 214, dated November 5, 2026, under announcement number 2170/26 and registered in the National Grants Database with the identifier BDNS 938347.

Regulatory Framework and Competent Body

The guidelines are processed under articles 17.3.b and 20.8.a of Law 38/2003, of November 17, General Grants Law, which require the publication of the call summary and the communication of its full text to the National Grants Database. The announcement is signed by the president of the provincial institution, Carlos García González, from the Rural Development department.

The full text of the call is available in the National Grants Database and on the electronic office of the Provincial Council of Ávila, where the guidelines can be consulted and applications submitted.

Requirements and Purpose of the Aid

All municipalities in the province with a population of fewer than 20,000 inhabitants that suffer from water supply problems for human consumption may be beneficiaries. The admitted causes are:

• Lack of flow in the supply sources.
• Breakdowns in the supply system.
• Other causes that compromise the supply.

The objective is to subsidize the supply of water via tankers, a common emergency formula in the province’s rural municipalities when regular catchment systems fail.

Technical and Economic Limits

The call sets limits on both volume and price to define the aid:

• The Council subsidizes up to 75 liters per inhabitant per day, calculated based on the latest updated census.
• This limit is doubled to 150 liters per inhabitant per day during the summer months of July, August, and September.
• The maximum subsidizable price per cubic meter for the 2025/2026 period is set at 16.50 euros, VAT included.
• Any amount exceeding that quantity per cubic meter will not be subject to the grant.
• The percentage covered by the provincial institution is 80% of the expense, in accordance with the criteria of the guidelines.

The subsidizable period comprises the supply carried out between October 2025 and August 2026, allowing municipalities to request aid for services already provided within that interval.

Credit and Application Deadline

The total amount of the grants may not exceed the credit allocated in the Ordinary Budget of the Provincial Council for the 2026 financial year, under item 1610.462.01, which amounts to 50,000.00 euros. Applications must be submitted within ten business days starting from the day following the publication of the call in the Official Provincial Gazette, meaning the closing date is around November 19, 2026.

This line of grants addresses a recurring problem in the rural areas of Ávila: the fragility of the water supply systems in small municipalities, which, during drought episodes or in the event of breakdowns, are forced to rely on water tanker trucks to guarantee drinking water. With 50,000 euros and an application period of barely two weeks, town councils with supply problems have a means to alleviate the cost of an essential service that, in many cases, they assume with limited own resources.

Source: Official Provincial Gazette of Ávila, no. 214, November 5, 2026, Provincial Administration (official reference: 2170/26, BDNS 938347).