- The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Acosol have signed the first tranche, for €75 million, of a total approved loan of €175 million.
- It will finance the upgrade and expansion of drinking water supply, sanitation and benefiting 1 million residents across the 11 municipalities encompassing the Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol.
- The investments are expected to help alleviate the significant water stress affecting the area, with more efficient water management thanks to more resilient infrastructure, adapted to climate change.
The EIB, part of the European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group), will provide €175 million in financing for Acosol’s investment programme to upgrade water infrastructure in western Andalusia, helping better manage a natural resource of vital importance to the region.
Today, the EIB and Acosol signed the first tranche of this loan, for €75 million. Acosol is a public company owned by the association of municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol that manages the entire urban water cycle, including water supply and sanitation services, in this part of the Province of Málaga.
The investments are expected to benefit around 1 million people in the municipalities of Benahavis, Benalmádena, Casares, Estepona, Fuengirola, Istán, Manilva, Marbella, Mijas, Ojén and Torremolinos – and more than 1.4 million in summer, when the population increases considerably. The planned measures contain energy efficiency improvements, including to generate renewable energy for own consumption at the Marbella desalination plant, EDAM (Estación Desalinizadora de Agua de Mar). This includes the rehabilitation and upgrade of water production, conveyance, storage and electromechanical systems, with the replacement of more than 20 km of collectors in the integrated sewerage network affected by leakage and seawater infiltration. They also include upgrading wastewater treatment plants and rehabilitating the integrated sewerage network to comply with environmental requirements, and helping recycle wastewater by installing reclaimed water networks. In addition, more than 30 km of drinking water pipelines will be refurbished and a new service reservoir will be built at the Río Verde drinking water treatment plant, ETAP (Estación de Tratamiento de Agua Potable de Río Verde), among other improvements.
The project will alleviate the significant water stress affecting Spain’s Costa del Sol while increasing environmental sustainability and improving services for people. By reducing water loss, increasing reuse and improving water management, it will also address recurring drought risk and strengthen the region’s climate resilience. The project will thus help meet the water needs of future generations facing a more uncertain and variable climate.
EIB support for efficient water management
Contributing to the efficient management of such a vital natural resource as water is a priority for the EIB. The project with Acosol forms part of the EIB Group’s Water Resilience Programme, an initiative to invest €15 billion between 2025 and 2027 to increase water security, upgrade infrastructure and promote more sustainable water management in Europe and around the world. The programme constitutes the EIB’s main financial contribution to the European Water Resilience Strategy, and will help mobilise up to €40 billion in investment.
In Spain, EIB financing for projects contributing to efficient water management reached a record €570 million in 2025, maintaining the strong momentum in this area from the previous financial year.
The project will contribute significantly to the climate action objectives set out in the EIB Group’s Strategic Roadmap for 2024-2027 and phase two of the Climate Bank Roadmap for 2026-2030.
Background information
EIB Group
The EIB Group is the financing arm of the European Union. Its shareholders are the 27 Member States, and it is one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion in new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects under eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, global partnerships and the savings and investments union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructure, the EIB Group crowds in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations. In 2025, the EIB Group completed financing and investment operations in Spain totalling around €11 billion, which came alongside an additional €2.9 billion under the Regional Resilience Fund (NextGenerationEU loans).
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB Group specialised in providing guarantees and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs.
In 2023, the EIF, together with six Member States (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands), launched the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI), a fund of funds to help innovative companies scale up. This initiative has already enabled the creation of 15 European venture capital mega funds and scaled up 43 companies, including 12 unicorns (with more than €1 billion in capital).
Photos of the EIB Group management and headquarters, logo files and video B-roll for media use are available here.
Acosol
Acosol S.A. is a public company owned by the municipalities’ association Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol Occidental, responsible for managing the entire urban water cycle. It covers all systems: from the abstraction, treatment and bulk distribution of drinking water to the eleven municipalities of the Costa del Sol, through to the conveyance of wastewater via the integrated sewerage network, treatment at its six wastewater treatment plants, and water reclamation, allowing it to be reused to water golf courses – an area Acosol has been active in for more than 20 years. It was founded as a public company in 1994 by the municipalities’ association to provide services throughout the Costa del Sol region, and currently employs more than 400 people.
Acosol is always evolving, and is adapting to new tools and technologies thanks to the Agua 360 digitalisation project, which forms part of the third call under the PERTE programme and is financed by NextGenerationEU funds. This modernisation and expansion extends to all of its shared infrastructure assets: the drinking water, wastewater and desalination facilities ETAP de Río Verde, Desaladora de Marbella (EDAM), EDAR Arroyo de la Miel, EDAR Cerro del Águila, EDAR Cala de Mijas, EDAR La Víbora, EDAR Casares and EDAR Guadalmansa. In 2024, an investment plan for €348 million was approved to address the new water-related challenges facing the area, following several droughts in the region. This programme of works and projects aims to strengthen Acosol’s response capacity – promoting quality, making water and energy consumption more efficient, and investing in the infrastructure required to achieve these objectives. Thanks to the EIB loan, Acosol gains access to €175 million to make these projects and measures a reality.