Prime Minister's Office of Spain

01/15/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/16/2026 07:16

Pedro Sánchez analyses with the CEO of the Veolia Group the progress made in water technology and infrastructures and the multinational's plans

Pedro Sánchez analyses with the CEO of the Veolia Group the progress made in water technology and infrastructures and the multinational's plans

President's News - 2026.1.15

The President of the Government has discussed with the CEO of the Veolia Group the challenges of the climate emergency, the Government's policies on modernising and digitalising the urban water cycle, and the importance of public-private collaboration in the management of water, waste and energy.

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the CEO of Veolia, Estelle Brachlianoff, during their meeting (Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

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The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has held a meeting at Moncloa Palace with the CEO of the Veolia Group, Estelle Brachlianoff, to analyse, among other issues, the multinational's plans in Spain and the challenges arising from the climate emergency. The meeting was also attended by the President of Veolia Spain, Rafael Villaseca, and the Director of the Office of Economic and G20 Affairs, Manuel de la Rocha.

During the meeting, they discussed the initiatives promoted to ensure Spain's leadership in water, waste and energy management, and valued public-private collaboration to make progress, especially in innovation. They also discussed the implementation of the European Next Generation funds of the Recovery Plan for the promotion of modernisation, digitisation and resilience projects in the urban water cycle, with investments such as the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) for the digitalisation of the water cycle, which involves the mobilisation of nearly €1 billion of public funds.

Within the framework of the water cycle PERTE, the Executive has launched the Urban Water Cycle Roundtable to discuss water issues, and at the end of 2025, the Water Management Observatory was created as an instrument to provide data and information on water use, all with the aim of ensuring the necessary investments and incentivising efficiency.

In this regard, the President of the Government valued the investments made by private managers such as the Veolia Group - the leading water service operator in Spain - in water efficiency and recycling technologies, infrastructure networks and digitalisation of water management, especially in rural areas.

The challenges related to the climate emergency were also discussed. In this regard, Pedro Sánchez conveyed the Government's strategic objective to continue moving towards more efficient energy models and decarbonisation.

Non official translation

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