Spain: EUR 350 million for water facilities in Mediterranean basin
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has a granted a EUR 350 million loan to Acuamed to finance investment in water and sanitation improvements on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. This is the first instalment of a total loan of up to EUR 500 million. The loan agreement was signed in Madrid today by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Miguel Angel Cañete, and EIB Vice-President Magdalena Álvarez Arza.
This EIB loan will be used to finance to investment in the water supply, wastewater treatment and environmental protection in Spain’s five Mediterranean river basins (Ebro, Júcar, Segura, Andalusian Mediterranean and internal Catalonian basins). The planned schemes are scheduled to run up to the end of 2015 and comprise:
- Interconnections between treatment plants and water mains.
- Connections between desalination plants and water distribution networks.
- Environmental recovery and flood prevention.
- Reuse of wastewater.
- Improving the efficiency of irrigation.
As well as helping to meet the growing demand for water for domestic and industrial use and enabling the reuse of wastewater on the Mediterranean coast, this loan will bring major environmental benefits by improving water supply systems, rehabilitating irrigation networks and developing desalination plants and new water treatment facilities. The project will also foster economic and social cohesion as part of the investments financed are located in convergence regions.
EIB loans are designed to meet clearly defined EU policies. As EU objectives, environmental improvement (an important area of which is the water sector) and economic and social cohesion are both top priorities for the Bank.
