Emasa invests 19.8 million in two years against flooding and sea discharges
Málaga's municipal water company has executed or has underway some twenty works to reduce flood risk, with another 30 million planned for the coming years, according to the Ayuntamiento.
Redacción · Publicada el September 11, 2026
The Empresa Municipal de Aguas de Málaga (Emasa) has executed or has underway, in the first two years of the 2024-2029 hydraulic infrastructure investment plan, around twenty works to reduce flood risk and improve the sewage network, worth 19,8 million euros. According to the note sent by the Ayuntamiento de Málaga, another twenty or so actions are planned to be launched in the coming years, reaching a total of 49,5 million euros.
The full plan includes more than 130 infrastructure works worth over 100 million euros until 2029 across all districts of the city, divided into sixteen major areas, one of which is the separation of sewage networks and rainwater drainage.
Currently, 58% of the consolidated land surface of Málaga has a separative system, that is, one that evacuates rainwater without mixing it with wastewater. This percentage is due, according to the Ayuntamiento, both to the obligation to build separative networks in new urban developments since the Plan General de Ordenación Urbana (PGOU) of 1983 and to municipal investment in already urbanized areas. Among the neighborhoods with separative networks are Teatinos, Churriana, the coastal strip of Carretera de Cádiz, the westernmost part of Cruz del Humilladero and the northern arc of the Este district.
Another 17% of the city, which includes Guadalmar, Puerto de la Torre, Ciudad Jardín, Limonar, Miraflores del Palo and Cerrado de Calderón, is considered mixed because it still retains some sections with unitary pipes. The remaining 24% corresponds to the oldest systems, in Centro, Bailén-Miraflores, Cruz del Humilladero and Carretera de Cádiz, where unitary networks that mix rainwater and wastewater predominate.
In these areas, when there is heavy rainfall the flow exceeds the capacity of the treatment plants and there are occasional discharges of mixed water into streams and the sea, in order to prevent flooding. The Ayuntamiento gives as an example the early morning of August 15, when 14 liters per square meter were recorded in one hour, a volume that generated a peak flow of between 150,000 and 200,000 cubic meters in that period. According to the note, the city must be prepared to manage 15,5 liters per square meter in 24 hours in line with the usual rainfall in Málaga.
Works underway and planned
Among the works already carried out are actions in the barriadas of Granja Suárez and Palma-Palmilla, in the area of Miramar and in the rainwater collector of calle Benamargosa. Work is currently underway in Las Flores, Salvador Allende, Juan Sebastián Elcano, San Javier, calle Abogado Federico Orellana, La Malagueta, Pedregalejo Alto and the wastewater collector of the Carretera de Guadalmar.
A storm tank is planned to be put out to tender shortly on the left bank of the Guadalmedina, which will store rainwater discharges from the Carretería collector to later send them to the treatment plant, as well as two sections of the Dos Hermanas rainwater box culvert, with an estimated budget of 5,9 million euros.
Several wastewater pumping stations (EBAR) are also being renovated or built, such as Campo de Golf, San Julián and Moby-Dick, and new pretreatment screens are being installed at the Guadalhorce and Peñón del Cuervo treatment plants to reduce the arrival at sea of waste such as wet wipes.
The plan also includes the extension of the Jaboneros submarine outfall and the creation of a new outfall from the EBAR Pacífico, with a combined estimated cost of 1,9 million euros.
The delegate councillor for the Área de Sostenibilidad Medioambiental, Penélope Gómez, has presented these actions as part of the municipal strategy to improve the city's response to torrential rains.
The full plan includes more than 130 infrastructure works worth over 100 million euros until 2029 across all districts of the city, divided into sixteen major areas, one of which is the separation of sewage networks and rainwater drainage.
Currently, 58% of the consolidated land surface of Málaga has a separative system, that is, one that evacuates rainwater without mixing it with wastewater. This percentage is due, according to the Ayuntamiento, both to the obligation to build separative networks in new urban developments since the Plan General de Ordenación Urbana (PGOU) of 1983 and to municipal investment in already urbanized areas. Among the neighborhoods with separative networks are Teatinos, Churriana, the coastal strip of Carretera de Cádiz, the westernmost part of Cruz del Humilladero and the northern arc of the Este district.
Another 17% of the city, which includes Guadalmar, Puerto de la Torre, Ciudad Jardín, Limonar, Miraflores del Palo and Cerrado de Calderón, is considered mixed because it still retains some sections with unitary pipes. The remaining 24% corresponds to the oldest systems, in Centro, Bailén-Miraflores, Cruz del Humilladero and Carretera de Cádiz, where unitary networks that mix rainwater and wastewater predominate.
In these areas, when there is heavy rainfall the flow exceeds the capacity of the treatment plants and there are occasional discharges of mixed water into streams and the sea, in order to prevent flooding. The Ayuntamiento gives as an example the early morning of August 15, when 14 liters per square meter were recorded in one hour, a volume that generated a peak flow of between 150,000 and 200,000 cubic meters in that period. According to the note, the city must be prepared to manage 15,5 liters per square meter in 24 hours in line with the usual rainfall in Málaga.
Works underway and planned
Among the works already carried out are actions in the barriadas of Granja Suárez and Palma-Palmilla, in the area of Miramar and in the rainwater collector of calle Benamargosa. Work is currently underway in Las Flores, Salvador Allende, Juan Sebastián Elcano, San Javier, calle Abogado Federico Orellana, La Malagueta, Pedregalejo Alto and the wastewater collector of the Carretera de Guadalmar.
A storm tank is planned to be put out to tender shortly on the left bank of the Guadalmedina, which will store rainwater discharges from the Carretería collector to later send them to the treatment plant, as well as two sections of the Dos Hermanas rainwater box culvert, with an estimated budget of 5,9 million euros.
Several wastewater pumping stations (EBAR) are also being renovated or built, such as Campo de Golf, San Julián and Moby-Dick, and new pretreatment screens are being installed at the Guadalhorce and Peñón del Cuervo treatment plants to reduce the arrival at sea of waste such as wet wipes.
The plan also includes the extension of the Jaboneros submarine outfall and the creation of a new outfall from the EBAR Pacífico, with a combined estimated cost of 1,9 million euros.
The delegate councillor for the Área de Sostenibilidad Medioambiental, Penélope Gómez, has presented these actions as part of the municipal strategy to improve the city's response to torrential rains.