2025/11/18 by Germà Bel, Joël Bühler · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Water Governance and Infrastructure
paper · doi:10.1093/cjres/rsaf048
openalex created_date 2025/09/29 · openalex publication_date 2025/11/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11
Abstract We study how the privatisation of urban water is being challenged in Catalonia, which has a high proportion of private management and a high degree of monopolisation in the water contract market, compared to Spain. We use detailed and up-to-date municipal data to study the dynamics of monopolisation and remunicipalisation. We find that remunicipalisation, rather than potential competition for contracts, is a remedy against monopolisation. Inter-municipal cooperation in Catalonia facilitated the implementation of remunicipalisation in smaller municipalities. In addition, we analyse the democratisation of water management following remunicipalisation and find that progress was modest, both in Catalonia and in Spain.