{"id":16307,"date":"2019-12-08T23:34:16","date_gmt":"2019-12-08T22:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.latribunedeplanas.com\/?p=16307"},"modified":"2026-10-07T20:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:51:24","slug":"municipal-neglect-planas-del-rei-deprived-of-essential-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.latribunedeplanas.com\/en\/municipal-neglect-planas-del-rei-deprived-of-essential-services\/","title":{"rendered":"8 December 2019: water, street lighting and wastewater treatment at the centre of a report on Planas del Rey"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section-Article” module_class=”section-article” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” collapsed=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ admin_label=”Ligne-Article” module_class=”ligne-article et_pb_row_fullwidth” _builder_version=”4.16″ width=”100%” width_tablet=”100%” width_phone=”” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” max_width=”100%” max_width_tablet=”100%” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_margin=”10px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px” make_fullwidth=”on” collapsed=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Texte-8 December 2019: water, street lighting and wastewater treatment at the centre of a report on Planas del Rey” module_class=”txt-article” _builder_version=”4.27.8″ text_font=”||||||||” header_font=”||||||||” header_2_font=”||||||||” header_3_font=”||||||||” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_5_font=”||||||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

In December 2019, journalist Jordi Ol\u00e0ria Gras<\/span> published a report for TarragonaDigital on the situation in Planas del Rey.<\/p>\n

The original report is no longer available on the media outlet\u2019s website. La Tribune de Planas nevertheless preserves its main elements, along with several photographs taken at the time.<\/p>\n

Street lighting had been out of service for more than two years, water cuts were recurring, the wastewater treatment plant was no longer operating, and the administrative situation remained complex. The report compares the positions of Avan\u00e7a Pratdip<\/span>, Mayor Joan Maria Rovira and, on sanitation matters, the Ag\u00e8ncia Catalana de l\u2019Aigua (ACA).<\/p>\n

In simple terms:<\/span> this report provides an important snapshot of the situation in Planas at the end of 2019. Some of the information comes from residents and Avan\u00e7a Pratdip, while other elements are attributed to the Town Council or the ACA. These different sources need to be clearly distinguished.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

An urbanisation still facing a complex administrative situation<\/h2>\n

The report first returns to an issue that runs through the recent history of Planas del Rey: the formal administrative acceptance of the urbanisation<\/span>.<\/p>\n

The position defended by the municipality at the time was that certain infrastructures had not undergone formal acceptance allowing them to be fully taken over by the Town Council.<\/p>\n

This issue must be distinguished from ownership of certain assets. Streets, networks and facilities had been subject to transfer procedures and registrations in the name of the Town Council during previous decades, without this necessarily meaning that the urbanisation as a whole had been formally accepted by the municipality.<\/p>\n

In simple terms:<\/span> municipal ownership of certain assets and the formal administrative acceptance of the urbanisation are two different matters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

Photo: Jordi Ol\u00e0ria Gras<\/p>\n

\n

The EUCC had been dissolved, but not all the consequences had been resolved<\/h2>\n

The situation of the former EUCC also occupies an important place in the report.<\/p>\n

The High Court of Justice of Catalonia had ordered its dissolution on 21 July 2016<\/span>. An enforcement order followed in December 2017, and the dissolution was registered with the Generalitat in September 2018.<\/p>\n

By December 2019, therefore, there was no longer any doubt about the legal existence of the dissolution decision.<\/p>\n

However, the liquidation of the former entity and the practical consequences of its disappearance were still causing difficulties<\/span>, particularly in relation to certain facilities, contracts and responsibilities.<\/p>\n

According to the report, Mayor Joan Maria Rovira referred, among other things, to outstanding accounts and charges that some property owners had allegedly not paid.<\/p>\n

Avan\u00e7a Pratdip, for its part, criticised the slow progress and called for the services and infrastructure of Planas to be progressively regularised.<\/p>\n

\"Infrastructure<\/p>\n

Photo: Jordi Ol\u00e0ria Gras<\/p>\n

\n

More than two years without street lighting<\/h2>\n

One of the most visible problems at the time concerned street lighting<\/span>.<\/p>\n

According to the report, the streetlights in Planas had not been operating for more than two years.<\/p>\n

The mayor explained that the electricity contract was still in the name of the former EUCC and that the entity had stopped paying the bills.<\/p>\n

Avan\u00e7a Pratdip, meanwhile, argued that a solution had to be found to restore street lighting in the urbanisation.<\/p>\n

This issue had already been raised during the Town Council meeting of 4 October 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The situation illustrates in practical terms the difficulties that followed the disappearance of the EUCC: an existing contract ceased to operate while responsibility for replacing or taking it over remained disputed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Street<\/p>\n

Photo: Jordi Ol\u00e0ria Gras<\/p>\n

\n

The wastewater treatment plant at the centre of concern<\/h2>\n

The report also devotes considerable attention to the Planas del Rey wastewater treatment plant, which was no longer operating at the time.<\/p>\n

\u00d3scar Serrano, an Avan\u00e7a Pratdip councillor, raised concerns about wastewater discharges into the ravine and their possible environmental consequences.<\/p>\n

The situation had already been the subject of several warnings in the preceding months and had been documented by SOS Planas in November 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The report nevertheless adds one particularly important element: the position attributed to the Ag\u00e8ncia Catalana de l\u2019Aigua<\/span>.<\/p>\n

According to the information reported by TarragonaDigital, the ACA stated that the former facility served only part of the urbanisation and that no discharge authorisation had been formally established with the Agency.<\/p>\n

The report also states that inspections had identified poor conditions at the facility and results that did not meet the required discharge parameters.<\/p>\n

Avan\u00e7a Pratdip also raised the possibility of contamination affecting nearby wells and groundwater.<\/p>\n

The ACA, however, stated that at the time it had no evidence establishing contamination of neighbouring aquifers<\/span>.<\/p>\n

In simple terms:<\/span> problems involving wastewater discharges and inadequate sanitation were reported. However, the available information did not establish contamination of groundwater.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Planas<\/p>\n

Photo: Frederic Zuccheretti<\/p>\n

\n

Three sanitation projects announced by the ACA<\/h2>\n

The report also provides important information about projects being considered at the time.<\/p>\n

According to TarragonaDigital, the ACA planned to develop three separate sanitation projects for Pratdip, Planes del Rei and Santa Marina<\/span>, with a target horizon then announced for around 2022.<\/p>\n

This announcement did not mean that the works had already been funded or carried out. It did, however, show that by the end of 2019 the need for a specific sanitation solution for Planas del Rey had been identified within the ACA\u2019s planning<\/span>.<\/p>\n

For the chronology of Planas, this information is particularly important in light of the water and sanitation projects that would be studied in the following years.<\/p>\n

\"Sanitation-related<\/p>\n

Photo: Jordi Ol\u00e0ria Gras<\/p>\n

\n

A water network affected by recurring cuts<\/h2>\n

Water supply was another major concern among the residents interviewed.<\/p>\n

The report describes recurring water cuts, sometimes lasting for extended periods<\/span>, as well as a network requiring significant repairs and maintenance.<\/p>\n

The Planas system relies in particular on pumps and reservoirs, making the supply especially vulnerable to breakdowns.<\/p>\n

The division of responsibility for repairs to the network was still a source of disagreement between property owners and the municipality.<\/p>\n

The report therefore reflects a problem that would continue to recur in the following years: an ageing network, frequent breakdowns and difficulty determining who should finance certain interventions while the urban-planning situation remained incompletely regularised.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Part<\/p>\n

Photo: Jordi Ol\u00e0ria Gras<\/p>\n

\n

Property owners questioning the level of services received<\/h2>\n

The report also reflects a widely expressed feeling in Planas: the perception of an imbalance between the taxes and charges paid by property owners and the level of services received by the urbanisation.<\/p>\n

At the time, some representatives of the property owners put forward very high figures concerning the proportion of municipal revenue said to come from Planas.<\/p>\n

However, the available municipal budget documents do not allow those specific percentages to be confirmed.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is therefore more accurate to retain the political and social observation of the period: some property owners believed that they contributed to municipal finances without receiving the level of services they expected from the municipality.<\/p>\n