Aena has launched a €266,200 tender to provide cleaning, unblocking and maintenance services for wastewater and sanitation infrastructure at Ibiza Airport, including the airport's wastewater treatment plant.

The contract has a net tender value of €220,000, rising to €266,200 including tax, and has been published under the reference IBZ-109/2026. The contract is for a service period of up to 12 months.

What the Contract Covers

The tender is considerably broader than routine pipe cleaning.

According to the technical specifications, the winning contractor will be responsible for the cleaning and unblocking of sanitation infrastructure throughout the airport, including the emptying of tanks, cleaning of pipes and drains, and maintenance of wastewater-related installations.

The work also covers the airport's Estación Depuradora de Aguas Residuales, or EDAR, where sludge chambers, clarifiers, the sludge thickener, aircraft waste holding areas and associated pipes are included in the maintenance programme.

Airport Buildings Included

The contract applies to sanitation systems serving multiple airport buildings rather than the treatment plant alone.

The areas covered include the passenger terminal, technical block, Can Savina workshops, electrical power building, fire station, falconry building and control towers.

The airport's internal sewer network is also included, as are several installations linked to non-potable water management.

These include the irrigation tank, flush-water tank, rainwater cisterns and hydrocarbon separators.

24-Hour Service

The successful contractor will be required to provide the service around the clock throughout the contract period.

The tender provides for both preventive maintenance and emergency interventions, with response times depending on the urgency of the request.

According to the tender documentation, urgent jobs may need to be attended to within periods ranging from one hour to 72 hours after notification.

The objective is to keep the airport's sanitation and wastewater systems operating continuously and reduce the risk of blockages or other failures affecting airport operations.

Keeping Aircraft Waste Systems Operating

The tender documentation also links the maintenance work to aircraft operations.

Aena's justification for the contract states that the service is intended to guarantee the functionality, reliability and quality of the airport's sanitation network, including maintaining the ability for aircraft to empty their wastewater holding tanks.

This makes the contract part of the airport's operational infrastructure as well as a general sanitation-maintenance service.

Tender Opened in September

Aena published the procurement on September 4, 2026.

Companies had until 12pm on September 14 to submit their offers. The current Aena procurement record lists September 21 at 9am as the scheduled opening date for the tender.

The contract has therefore not yet been awarded.

Comes Amid Ongoing Wastewater Concerns

The new tender comes during an ongoing controversy surrounding wastewater management at Ibiza Airport.

In August, several local organisations raised allegations concerning wastewater discharges allegedly linked to the airport's treatment plant and the Torrent de sa Font, which flows towards es Codolar and the Parc Natural de ses Salines d'Eivissa i Formentera.

The Balearic Government opened preliminary proceedings to investigate the reported discharge and subsequently imposed precautionary measures prohibiting Aena from discharging water into the torrent while the investigation continues.

The investigation has not yet established that Aena's treatment plant was responsible for all of the contamination detected in the area.

Aena Has Also Commissioned an Audit

The cleaning tender is separate from another recent contract concerning the airport's water infrastructure.

Earlier in September, Aena awarded a €14,900 minor contract to Ibiza company Gasifred SL for an audit and intervention involving the airport's hydraulic networks.

That service was awarded on September 8 and was given a one-month period for completion.

The existence of the two contracts means that Aena is currently pursuing both a more immediate assessment of its hydraulic network and a longer-term maintenance service covering cleaning and unblocking.

Aena Has Acknowledged Occasional Pressure on the System

Aena has previously stated that its wastewater treatment system can experience occasional problems during periods of particularly high demand or saturation.

The company has maintained that the airport's treatment plant processes wastewater generated by the airport and that treated water is reused for irrigation.

At the same time, the Balearic Government's investigation into the Torrent de sa Font remains open, meaning the exact causes and responsibilities associated with the reported contamination have not yet been definitively established.

The Tender Covers More Than the Treatment Plant

The scale of the procurement is important because it would establish a comprehensive maintenance service across the airport.

Rather than focusing exclusively on the EDAR, the contract covers sanitation networks, wastewater infrastructure, pipes, tanks, drains and other installations distributed throughout the airport complex.

The contractor will also be responsible for responding to urgent blockages and other incidents that could affect the operation of those systems.

€266,200 Tender, Not Yet an Award

The official Aena procurement record currently lists the gross tender value at €266,200, with a net value of €220,000. It classifies the procurement as a services contract awarded through an open procedure.

Because the tender has not yet been awarded, there is currently no confirmed contractor or final contract price.

The next formal stage is the opening of the submitted offers on September 21.

A Significant Maintenance Contract for Ibiza Airport

The new procurement represents a substantial investment in the airport's wastewater and sanitation infrastructure.

It covers the EDAR itself, airport-wide sewage and drainage systems, tanks, pipes and other water-related installations, with a 24-hour service requirement and provisions for urgent intervention.

Its launch comes at a particularly significant moment because the airport's wastewater management is already subject to an open investigation by the Balearic authorities.

For now, the confirmed facts are that Aena has tendered the €266,200 service, that the contract has not yet been awarded, and that its scope extends well beyond the treatment plant to the wider sanitation and wastewater infrastructure serving Ibiza Airport.