San Sebastián Closes €12.17 Million Water and Sewer Network Maintenance Tender Without Award

Standfirst

The Ayuntamiento de Donostia/San Sebastián in Spain has closed a major procurement procedure for the repair, rehabilitation, renewal and maintenance of municipal water and sewer networks without selecting a winning contractor.

The procurement had an estimated value of €12.17 million excluding VAT and covered municipal water and sewer infrastructure in Gipuzkoa. Although four companies submitted tenders, the published result confirms that no winner was chosen and the competition was closed.

The contracting authority states that the non-award resulted from a buyer decision linked to technical or procedural errors. The development is particularly significant because the procurement was already being handled through an accelerated procedure following difficulties with earlier procurement processes for the same service.

Introduction

Municipal water and sewer networks require continuous repair, rehabilitation and preventive maintenance to maintain service reliability and extend the useful life of underground infrastructure.

To meet these requirements, the Ayuntamiento de Donostia/San Sebastián launched an open procurement procedure titled “Reparación, rehabilitación, renovación y mantenimiento de las redes de saneamiento y agua municipal”.

The contract covers repair, rehabilitation, renewal and maintenance activities associated with the city's municipal sewerage and water networks. The procurement was valued at approximately €12.17 million excluding VAT.

However, the tender did not result in an award. The TED result notice states that no winner was chosen and the competition was closed.

Contract Overview

About the Contracting Authority

Ayuntamiento de Donostia/San Sebastián

The contracting authority is the Ayuntamiento de Donostia/San Sebastián, the municipal government responsible for public services and infrastructure in Donostia/San Sebastián.

The TED notice classifies the buyer as a local authority and identifies its contracting-authority activity as general public services.

The procurement is being managed through the city's contracting service. The buyer is based in Donostia/San Sebastián in Gipuzkoa, Spain.

Scope of the Contract

The procurement concerns the repair, rehabilitation, renewal and maintenance of municipal sewerage and water networks.

The main CPV classification is:

50800000 – Miscellaneous repair and maintenance services

The contracting authority also assigned three additional CPV codes:

• 45231300 – Construction work for water and sewage pipelines
• 45232151 – Water-main refurbishment construction work
• 45232410 – Sewerage work

These classifications show that the procurement combines ongoing maintenance services with infrastructure-related works involving water mains, sewerage systems and pipelines.

Contract Value

The contracting authority estimated the procurement at:

€12,174,193.08 excluding VAT

The figure represents the estimated procurement value rather than the value of an awarded contract because the procedure ultimately closed without a winner.

This distinction is important when analysing contract-award data: the €12.17 million figure should not be reported as money awarded to a contractor.

Contract Duration and Possible Extensions

The planned initial duration of the contract was three years.

The procurement also provided for a maximum of two renewals, with each renewal lasting one year. This means that, had the procurement proceeded to contract award and the available extensions been exercised, the service relationship could potentially have continued for up to five years.

Why Was the Procurement Accelerated?

An important feature of this procurement is that the Ayuntamiento de Donostia/San Sebastián used an accelerated open procedure.

The contracting authority referred to the urgent-processing mechanism under Article 119 of Spain's Public Sector Contracts Law (LCSP).

The TED notice explains that the urgency arose from the situation surrounding the existing service. The previous contract was operating under a continuity arrangement approved in December 2023.

Before the present procurement, the municipality had already processed two earlier procedures for the service:

• 2025/057
• 2026/029

Both procedures were challenged before the relevant procurement review authority, requiring the contracting authority to reverse or revisit procedural actions for different reasons. The municipality therefore launched the present procurement under urgent processing.

Procurement Result: No Winner Selected

Despite receiving competitive submissions, the procedure ended without a contract award.

The TED notice records the winner-selection status as:

“No winner was chosen and the competition is closed.”

The stated reason for not choosing a winner is a decision of the buyer because of technical or procedural errors.

Consequently, none of the four participating companies should be described as the contract winner.

Companies That Submitted Tenders

Four companies participated in the procurement:

The TED results identify URBYCOLAN, CONSTRUCCIONES MOYUA, LANDA E IMAZ and ANSAREO as non-winning tenderers.

Competition and SME Participation

The procurement received a total of four tenders, all of which were submitted electronically.

Of those four submissions, three came from micro, small or medium-sized enterprises. No tenders were reported from companies registered in other European Economic Area countries, and no tenders were received from companies outside the EEA.

The data therefore indicates a strongly domestic and locally concentrated competitive field.

Award Criteria

The published notice identifies the economic offer as a cost-based award criterion carrying 50 points.

For suppliers analysing similar Spanish municipal tenders, the disclosed weighting demonstrates the importance of commercial competitiveness alongside the other requirements contained in the procurement documents.

No Framework Agreement or Dynamic Purchasing System

The procurement was intended as a conventional contract rather than a framework agreement.

The TED notice confirms that there was:

• No framework agreement
• No dynamic purchasing system

Therefore, the procurement was designed to result in a direct service contract for the municipal network maintenance requirement.

EU Funding and GPA Status

The procurement was not financed with European Union funds.

The notice also states that the procurement was not covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

Why This Procurement Matters

The significance of this notice lies not in a successful contract award but in the continuing procurement requirement behind it.

The municipality requires long-term repair, rehabilitation, renewal and maintenance services for its water and sewer networks. The estimated value of more than €12 million demonstrates the scale of that requirement.

At the same time, the history described in the TED notice shows that procuring the service has been complicated. Two earlier procedures had already faced challenges, the current procedure was accelerated because of the service situation, and this latest competition has now closed without selecting a winner.

This combination makes the requirement particularly important for contractors to monitor because the underlying municipal infrastructure need remains relevant even though this specific competition has ended without an award.

SpainTenders.com Procurement Intelligence

This TED result provides several valuable procurement-intelligence signals for contractors operating in Spain's water, sewerage and municipal infrastructure market.

• €12.17 million requirement remains strategically important: The estimated value shows that Donostia/San Sebastián has a substantial requirement for municipal water and sewer network maintenance.
• No contract winner: Suppliers should not interpret this result notice as a €12.17 million contract award. The competition closed without a selected winner.
• Potential future procurement signal: Because the underlying municipal service requirement exists while this procedure has ended without an award, suppliers should closely monitor the buyer for any subsequent procurement action. This is a procurement-intelligence inference, not an announced retender in the reviewed notice.
• Repeated procurement activity: The buyer identifies earlier procedures 2025/057 and 2026/029 for the same service, demonstrating repeated procurement activity around this requirement.
• Water and sewer infrastructure opportunity: Relevant CPVs include water and sewage pipeline construction, water-main refurbishment and sewerage work.
• Strong SME participation: Three of the four tenders came from micro, small or medium-sized companies.
• Domestic competition: No bids were reported from suppliers based elsewhere in the EEA or outside the EEA.
• Long-term service potential: The planned contract structure consisted of three initial years plus two possible one-year renewals.
• Strategic buyer to monitor: Contractors specialising in municipal utilities, pipeline rehabilitation, sewerage and water infrastructure should monitor future procurement notices from the Ayuntamiento de Donostia/San Sebastián.

Supplier Takeaways

• The tender had an estimated value of €12,174,193.08 excluding VAT.
• The requirement covers repair, rehabilitation, renewal and maintenance of municipal water and sewer networks.
• The procurement took place in Gipuzkoa, Spain.
• The buyer is the Ayuntamiento de Donostia/San Sebastián.
• The procurement used an open accelerated procedure.
• The planned initial contract duration was three years.
• Two additional one-year renewals were possible.
• Four companies submitted tenders.
• Three of the four bidders were SMEs.
• No contractor won the competition.
• The competition was closed because of a buyer decision related to technical or procedural errors.
• The requirement has already been subject to earlier procurement processes, making future buyer activity worth monitoring.

Key Takeaways

Conclusion

The Ayuntamiento de Donostia/San Sebastián's procurement for the repair, rehabilitation, renewal and maintenance of municipal sewerage and water networks represents a significant €12.17 million infrastructure-services requirement in Spain.

However, the TED result must be interpreted carefully. No contract has been awarded under this procedure. Four companies participated, but the contracting authority ultimately closed the competition without selecting a winner because of technical or procedural errors.

The result is particularly noteworthy given the procurement history described by the municipality. Earlier procedures had faced challenges, and the present competition itself was processed urgently because of the situation surrounding the continuation of the service.

For water infrastructure contractors, sewerage specialists, pipeline rehabilitation companies and municipal maintenance providers, the key intelligence is therefore not the identity of a winner but the continuing scale and importance of the underlying requirement. Future procurement activity from Donostia/San Sebastián relating to this service should be monitored closely.

Source: Tenders Electronic Daily (TED), Contract Award Notice 603687-2026, OJ S 169/2026, published 2 September 2026. The notice is classified as a Contract or Concession Award Notice under the standard regime, but its result section confirms that no winner was selected.