Aqualia has been named“Company of the Year” at the iAgua Awards 2026 ceremony, held as the closing event of the Spain Smart Water Summit 2026, one of the leading gatherings in the water sector. The congress brought together more than 500 delegates and 141 speakers in Madrid this week under the slogan“Water Thinks Now. You Decide” to analyze the evolution of water management through three conceptual pillars: measure, think, and decide.

Santiago Lafuente, CEO of Aqualia, accepted the award on behalf of the company. In his remarks, the company’s chief executive shared the recognition with the more than 15,000 people who make up Aqualia’s team and who work every day to provide a safe and sustainable service to more than 45 million citizens worldwide. Lafuente also highlighted the special significance of the award in a year when the Aqualia brand celebrates its 25th anniversary: “A quarter of a century in which the brand has embodied the spirit of the company, bringing together our three core values: public service, innovation, and sustainability.”

In granting the award, the organizers highlighted Aqualia’s particularly significant achievements over the past year. Internationally, they underscored the company’s unprecedented entry into Japan through three 30-year plant contracts, making it the first Spanish operator to achieve this milestone, as well as its consolidation in France and Peru through the award of new contracts. In Spain, the company’s digital leadership was also recognized following the success of VIGWATER, which secured the largest grant awarded under the third call of the Strategic Project for the Digitalization of the Urban Water Cycle (PERTE), amounting to €5.99 million.

Prior to the awards ceremony, the CEOs Panel: Now We Decide, Executive Dialogues was held, providing a forum for strategic discussion in which Lucas Díaz, Spain Director of Aqualia, participated alongside six executives from the sector’s leading utility operators.

During his intervention, Lucas Díaz emphasized that the investment needs of the urban water cycle are too great to be borne solely by public authorities. He advocated for private-sector participation through secure concession frameworks, guaranteed returns, and a tariff structure less exposed to political debate.

Regarding smaller municipalities, Díaz argued that meeting new wastewater treatment requirements will require pooling needs through provincial councils or inter-municipal associations and developing joint projects that integrate design, construction, operation, and, where necessary, financing. To address water scarcity, he identified three key levers: water reuse, desalination, and efficiency. He called for expanding the use of reclaimed water, continuing to incorporate desalinated resources in areas facing the greatest water stress, and further reducing losses through smarter network management.

Looking ahead, Díaz proposed measuring how much new water resource the sector is capable of incorporating into existing systems and how much optimization can be achieved through performance improvements, supported by new financing mechanisms to extend such initiatives.

Digitalization and Water Innovation Strategy

Aqualia played a prominent role throughout the event, with its professionals presenting the results of the company’s digitalization initiatives and a range of successful case studies.

Carlos Corcuera, Head of PERTE Projects at Aqualia, took part in the session“Six PERTE Projects Later… How We Have Improved Water Services for 1.8 Million People in 174 Municipalities”, detailing how service transformation is being achieved through sensorization and data analytics.

Ernesto de la Plata, Head of the Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Department at Aqualia, delivered the presentation“Smart Villapérez: Intelligence Begins Before Construction”, focused on digitalization during the design and development phases of infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, Marta Casao, Manager of Treatment Plants and Water Quality at Aqualia, presented“From Notebook to Digital Twin: Transforming Operational Data into Intelligent Decisions at Teis WWTP”, showcasing the transition towards predictive models in wastewater treatment.