The charge on your water bill that is failing to keep Andalucía’s beaches safe

Residents have paid a regional charge meant to modernise Andalucía’s sewage network, yet ageing treatment plants buckled again this summer. Bacteria forced bathing bans across four coastal provinces, and one of Málaga’s best-known beaches is still closed as the region heads into autumn.

Bil Bil beach still closed after the latest E. coli alert

Regional health inspectors closed Bil Bil beach in Benalmádena on Wednesday September 9, after tests found elevated levels of E. coli, a bacteria linked to sewage contamination. Red flags and warning signs went up along the shoreline, and officials said access would stay barred until new samples came back clean.

It was the second closure at the popular Costa del Sol beach in less than a month, after several Benalmádena beaches were shut in August over suspected biological contamination that left some swimmers with skin irritation. Vox’s local spokesperson Joaquín Amann has since called for the resignation of Félix Romero Moreno, president of Acosol, the public company responsible for sewage infrastructure along this stretch of coast, accusing it of years of poor maintenance.

A pattern repeated in Málaga, Cádiz, Huelva and Granada 

Bil Bil is only the most recent entry on a long list. Around a dozen beaches across four Andalusian provinces were temporarily closed to swimmers this summer after tests picked up E. coli and other markers of sewage contamination. 

In Cádiz province, five beaches, including Rota’s Punta Candor and Chipiona’s Micaela, were closed on the same day in late August. Huelva saw warnings at Punta Umbría and Matalascañas, while Granada’s Costa Tropical recorded closures at Salobreña, Almuñécar, Albuñol and Sorvilán. Most bans were lifted within days once fresh tests came back clean, though Bil Bil still remains closed. 

Treatment plants built for a fraction of today’s summer crowds 

Much of the region’s sewage infrastructure dates back more than 20 years, and is not designed for populations that can multiply several times over once the tourist season begins. Some resort towns now see their number of residents rise so much higher in July and August that the strain on treatment plants has become too much and they are unable to cope with it. 

When plants reach capacity, untreated or partially treated wastewater can end up discharged closer to the coastline, which is exactly the scenario health authorities are trying to catch with routine testing before it reaches swimmers.

Málaga’s plants have the worst compliance record of any Andalusian province, with Cádiz and Almería not far ahead of it. Only Córdoba, well inland and away from the tourist coast, clears the required standard comfortably.

Where Andalucía’s €678m water charge for sewage actually went

Every Andalucian water bill includes a regional charge, the canon de mejora de infraestructuras hidráulicas (a fee added to water bills to fund sewage and water infrastructure upgrades), which has raised more than €1.4 billion since it was introduced. Yet Andalucía’s regional auditor, the Cámara de Cuentas, revealed in April that around €678 million collected through the charge had not been invested in the sanitation works it was meant to pay for.

Regional rules have also been changed to let money raised through the same charge be redirected to other repairs, including storm damage, rather than reserved solely for sewage upgrades. Spain has separately been fined more than €84 million since 2018 over towns, including Barbate in Cádiz and Matalascañas in Huelva, whose sewage treatment falls short of EU standards, with the bill expected to approach €100 million by the end of the decade.

How to check before you go for a swim

The regional health department publishes updated reports on bathing water quality for all five coastal provinces roughly every two weeks throughout the summer, available through the Junta de Andalucía’s beach information catalogue. Anyone planning a trip to the coast can check a specific beach’s current status there before setting off.

For Bil Bil, and the handful of other beaches still awaiting the all-clear, that is currently the only way to know whether the water is safe, alongside the visual cues at the beach itself. Red flags and warning signs are still worth watching for on arrival.

For many people living along the coasts, the frustration is less about any single closure and more about the pattern that keeps repeating itself. The same charge keeps appearing on every water bill, and the same warning signs on the same stretches of sand, summer after summer. So, where exactly has the €678 million gone? That’s the big question hanging over Andalucía’s coastline.