Vall-llobrega approves the fee for the use of public domain for supplies

The Vall-llobrega City Council has definitively approved Fiscal Ordinance No. 18, regulating the tax for the special use of local public domain in favor of companies operating general interest supply services. The regulation, which will tax the gross income of companies occupying the soil, subsoil, or airspace of municipal public roads at 1.5%, will enter into force on January 1, 2027. The agreement is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Girona number 174, dated September 9, 2026, with the official reference BOP-2026_0_174_7790.

The Corporate Plenary, in an ordinary session held on July 14, 2026, provisionally approved the ordinance. The text was submitted for public exhibition for 30 business days, via an announcement in the BOP of Girona number 143, dated July 28, 2026, and on the City Council’s notice board between July 28 and August 31, 2026, in accordance with article 17 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5, which approves the Recast Text of the Law regulating local treasuries. As no claims or allegations were presented during this period, the provisional approval agreement became definitive on August 31, 2026, without the need for a new agreement.

Taxable event and taxpayers

The tax levies the private use or special exploitations established in the soil, subsoil, or airspace of municipal public roads by companies providing general interest supply services. The taxpayers are the companies operating these services, whether public or private, regardless of whether they own the networks or only possess rights of use, access, or interconnection.

• Water, gas, and electricity, as well as other means of communication provided through networks and antennas that occupy the municipal public domain.
• Companies that operate fiber optic, cable television networks, or any other technique, when they are the owners.
• Telefónica de España S.A.U is exempt, as its amount is already included in the compensation of 1.9% of its gross income paid to the City Council; other companies of the Telefónica Group are subject to the tax.

Tax base and quota

The tax base is calculated on the gross income figure from the billing that companies obtain annually within the municipal district. When the taxpayer uses third-party networks, the base is reduced by the amounts paid to the network owner. The quota is obtained by applying 1.5% to this base.

Indirect taxes, public subsidies, compensation for damages, financial income, and amounts from asset disposals shall not be included in the gross income. The tax period coincides with the calendar year, with quarterly apportionment in the event of the start or cessation of activity.

Management, declaration, and sanctions

A quarterly self-assessment regime is established (form TA-1), which must be submitted and paid by the last day of the month following each calendar quarter. Companies using third-party networks must certify the amounts paid via the annual summary (form TA-10) during the month of April of the following year. Management, inspection, and collection may be delegated to the Diputació de Girona, through XALOC, which will establish the administrative circuits to simplify compliance with obligations.

Failure to pay the debt within the established deadlines constitutes a tax offense as defined in Article 191 of the General Tax Law, and late submission entails the requirement of late-payment surcharges provided for in Article 27 of the same law. The ordinance, electronically signed by Rufino Guirado Iruela on September 1, 2026, will remain in force until its express modification or repeal.

With this new ordinance, Vall-llobrega aligns itself with the usual practice of Catalan municipalities of taxing the occupation of public domain by large utility companies, a source of resources that allows the City Council to offset the cost of maintaining public roads occupied by service networks. Residents will not be directly affected by the tax, which falls on the operating companies, but will benefit from more solid municipal financing.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Girona, no. 174, September 9, 2026, Local Administration section - City Councils, pp. 1-7 (official reference: BOP-2026_0_174_7790).