Spain's 25-year record of wastewater failure

First court ruling: Spain found in breach

A decade after the deadline, the European Commission brought Spain to court. In 2011, the European Court of Justice declared Spain had failed to fulfil its obligations — with no wastewater collection in 6 agglomerations and no treatment in 37.

Spain was ordered to comply. It did not.

Second ruling: Spain fined €12M — Andalucía named

Seven years after the first ruling, Spain still hadn't complied. The CJEU imposed a lump sum of €12 million and a penalty of nearly €11 million per six-month period until full compliance. The delay was cited as an "aggravating circumstance" — 18 years beyond the original deadline.

The towns named in this ruling for failing to treat wastewater included these Andalucían agglomerations:

Then Andalucía made it worse: the regional government abolished the canon de mejora — a hypothecated tax ring-fenced for water infrastructure — leaving treatment plant construction unfunded.

Andalucía was identified as the Spanish territory responsible for 100% of the ongoing delay in compliance at this point.

Málaga's Guadalhorce treatment plant: planned in 2006, not yet built

The lack of an adequate wastewater treatment plant at the Guadalhorce River in Málaga has resulted in EU fines totalling more than €7.5 million until 2024, with an ongoing annual fine of €2.8 million continuing until the project is completed.

The project was first planned in 2006. A design-and-build contract was awarded in 2021 for €105 million. Construction has not taken place due to design changes. The 2024 revised budget is €138 million. Construction could start in 2025 — with completion optimistically estimated at 2028.

This is the same infrastructure failure at the root of the April 2026 beach closures in Torremolinos.

European Commission refers Spain to court — again

In December 2023, the European Commission referred Spain back to the CJEU, identifying "widespread failures to comply with the Directive." The scale of the problem: 29 agglomerations still lack adequate wastewater collection systems. In a further 225 agglomerations, existing treatment is still inadequate — including 90 in Andalucía alone.

CJEU condemns Spain again — 15 Andalucían areas cited

On 18 December 2025, the CJEU delivered another condemnation of Spain for repeatedly breaching the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. The ruling covers around 50 urban agglomerations, with failures in collection, treatment, and monitoring. 15 of those agglomerations are in Andalucía.

The court found that in at least 34 agglomerations, collected wastewater does not receive the required secondary treatment before being discharged. In a further 19 agglomerations discharging into sensitive areas, more stringent treatment required by the directive was not applied.

While the judgment does not immediately impose financial penalties, it opens the possibility for the European Commission to request coercive fines if Spain fails to act.

€87 million in fines — and Spain leads the EU in environmental cases

Since 2018, Spain has paid €87 million in EU fines for defective wastewater treatment, with the bill growing by approximately €3 million every six months. Spain currently tops EU rankings with 22 active environmental infringement cases — ahead of Poland (20), Italy (19), and Greece (17).

In a 2021 report, the Spanish government itself admitted that a "particularly worrying" backlog had accumulated in the area of water sanitation and treatment.