The 2017 festive season takes a particularly difficult turn in Planas del Rey.
From 31 December onwards, many residents are left without water or experience a very irregular supply. For several days, we live through a succession of breakdowns, repair attempts and temporary restorations.
This crisis occurs less than two months after the EUCC announced the end of its management and maintenance activities on 31 October 2017.
Beyond the technical problem, one question quickly becomes central: who is now responsible for intervening when a breakdown occurs in the internal water network of Planas del Rey?
The problems begin on 31 December
On 31 December 2017, many property owners are left without water because of problems affecting our supply installations.
The situation is particularly difficult during the festive season. Many families are in Planas, and some are hosting relatives and friends for New Year and Epiphany.
Without water, the simplest everyday activities become difficult: taking a shower, cooking, doing the laundry or simply using our homes normally.
We therefore ask Pratdip Town Council to intervene.
But a disagreement immediately emerges. The Town Council considers that the problems are located within the development’s internal network and that this network has not been transferred to the municipality. For our part, we consider that we pay our water bills and the various charges associated with the service and that we should therefore be able to rely on an intervention to restore the supply.
On 2 January, we go to the Town Hall
On 2 January, around twenty property owners of different nationalities go to Pratdip Town Hall to protest about the situation and ask for a solution to be found.
Tensions are high.
Several residents also submit complaints, and some go to the Mossos d’Esquadra.
At that moment, our main concern is very simple: we just want to have water in our homes again.
Residents intervene directly on the installations
Faced with the urgency of the situation, several residents decide to intervene directly on the installations in an attempt to restore the operation of the network.
Bernardo Gallardo and Cristian Piñero, with the help of Òscar Serrano, then a municipal councillor, are among those involved in these interventions.
By the end of the day on 3 January, water returns to the homes following their efforts.
At the time, we sincerely thank them for their intervention.
Unfortunately, the return of the water does not mean that the problem has been permanently resolved. Over the following days, the supply remains irregular and several residents continue to experience interruptions or only temporary restorations.
What we initially thought would be a breakdown lasting a few days gradually turns into a genuine water supply crisis.
On 7 January, our situation attracts media attention
A few days later, the situation in Planas del Rey begins to be reported by the Catalan media.
On 7 January, the Agència Catalana de Notícies (ACN) reports testimonies from residents who explain that they have been experiencing supply problems since 31 December, apart from a few temporary restorations.
At that time, approximately 190 residents are reported to be affected.
Some explain that they can no longer shower, wash clothes or cook normally. Others are said to have temporarily left Planas to stay with relatives.
What had until then been an essentially local problem begins to attract attention beyond Planas.
The Catalan media come to Planas
We contact several media outlets in order to make the situation known.
Journalists travel to Planas del Rey. They collect testimonies from residents, but also report the position of Pratdip Town Council.
These reports now provide a particularly valuable audiovisual record of the crisis and of the disagreement that existed at the time between residents and the municipality.
The Town Council gives its version of events
Faced with residents’ protests and growing media attention, Pratdip Town Council publicly sets out its position.
It states that the internal water distribution network of Planas del Rey has not been transferred to the municipality and therefore considers that its maintenance remains the responsibility of the property owners.
The Town Council explains that it supplies drinking water, treated with chlorine, up to the development’s main reservoir and states that this supply was not interrupted.
According to this version, the problems therefore occur after the main reservoir, within the internal network supplying the different homes.
This interpretation is very different from ours. For the residents involved, the fact that we pay water bills and the corresponding charges means that continuity of the service should be guaranteed.
In simple terms: we are not only dealing with a breakdown. We also disagree with the Town Council over who is responsible for maintaining and repairing the internal network.
The Town Council eventually decides to intervene
In its statement, the Town Council says that on 2 January 2018 it issued a decree allowing an exceptional intervention.
It explains that it decided to step in because the EUCC was no longer intervening and to call on Comaigua through the Consell Comarcal del Baix Camp.
Work is then carried out on various faults appearing within the network, with the cooperation of several residents.
According to the Town Council, the service is restored after each of these interventions.
This succession of repairs also explains why the testimonies gathered during those days may appear contradictory: the water returns at certain times, only for new problems to occur afterwards.
Questions about the cause of some breakdowns
The succession of incidents also raises questions.
Some residents file complaints with the Mossos d’Esquadra and mention, among other possibilities, acts of vandalism or sabotage.
The Town Council also states that it has informed the Mossos so that they can determine whether some of the breakdowns, particularly those occurring after repairs, are accidental or may have been deliberately caused.
At that stage, however, there is no evidence allowing us to state that the breakdowns were intentionally caused.
The debate reaches the municipal council
The water crisis quickly reaches the Pratdip municipal council.
Around thirty Planas residents attend a particularly tense meeting at which the water supply problems are among the issues discussed.
The debate once again focuses on responsibility for the internal network, the intervention of the Town Council and the situation created by the disappearance of the EUCC.
The municipality also announces that an agreement is being prepared to clarify the role of the different parties in the event of future breakdowns.
The January 2018 crisis therefore reveals something much deeper than a simple technical problem: the disappearance of the EUCC has not resolved the question of the day-to-day management of the installations in Planas del Rey.
From 9 January onwards, Comaigua intervenes regularly
The situation gradually begins to stabilise.
On 19 January, Òscar Serrano informs us that Comaigua workers have been intervening in Planas since 9 January.
According to the information he provides at the time, several parts of the installations are now being checked on a daily basis:
- the well;
- the four reservoirs;
- the electrical system;
- the chlorination system;
- the distribution network.
The aim is to ensure sufficient water flow and pressure in our homes.
Òscar Serrano also announces that on 18 January he submitted several proposals to the municipal council, including one directly concerning the search for a lasting solution to the water problem.
A crisis that reveals a much deeper problem
Through this crisis, we experience very concretely the consequences of the transition period opened by the disappearance of the EUCC.
The High Court of Justice of Catalonia had ordered the dissolution of the EUCC in July 2016, and the entity had ceased its maintenance activities at the end of October 2017.
But this dissolution does not, by itself, mean that all the installations in Planas were automatically transferred to the Town Council.
This is precisely what the January 2018 crisis brings to light:
the EUCC no longer operates as it did before, but residents and the Town Council do not share the same interpretation of responsibility for the internal network.
When a breakdown occurs, this lack of agreement immediately becomes a very real problem for residents.
What should be remembered
Over the course of just a few weeks, we experience a succession of events:
- the supply problems begin on 31 December 2017;
- on 2 January, around twenty property owners go to the Town Hall;
- several residents intervene directly on the installations;
- the water returns at times, but new breakdowns occur;
- our situation is reported by several Catalan media outlets;
- the Town Council and residents take different positions on responsibility for the internal network;
- Comaigua eventually intervenes on the installations;
- from 9 January onwards, according to Òscar Serrano, regular monitoring of the network is put in place.
In simple terms: this crisis does not only reveal the fragility of our water network. Above all, it shows the very practical difficulties created by an administrative situation that remained deeply uncertain at the time.
For us, the residents of Planas del Rey, however, the issue remains very simple: when we turn on a tap, we should be able to get water.
Martine Belgeonne
Sources
The information concerning the Town Council’s official position comes, among other sources, from the municipal statement published on 9 January 2018 and reported by the Diari de Tarragona. Residents’ testimonies were also reported by the Agència Catalana de Notícies (ACN) and several Catalan media outlets in early January 2018.
