EMALSA

What EMALSA does

EMALSA (Empresa Mixta de Aguas de Las Palmas, S.A.) is a mixed public-private water utility company founded in 1984 and headquartered in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. It holds the municipal concession for the complete integral water cycle — desalination, drinking water supply, sewage collection, and wastewater treatment — for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the municipality of Santa Brígida. The company operates the EDAM Las Palmas III seawater desalination plant in the Piedra Santa industrial estate, which supplies approximately 85% of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria's drinking water via reverse osmosis, supplemented by real-time telemetry monitoring of approximately 13,000 network assets and an accredited laboratory conducting over 400 daily analyses on 100 water samples across the full cycle.

The company's core technology stack centers on reverse osmosis desalination with continuous efficiency upgrades (new FG-frame RO membranes, isobaric chambers replacing Pelton turbines for energy recovery), an intelligent water demand prediction tool developed with ULPGC's GRRES research group, and a self-serve customer platform (Oficina Virtual). Revenue is generated through regulated monthly water tariffs across residential, commercial, industrial, construction, and shipping (port supply) segments, billed directly to end customers via physical offices, a 24/7 emergency hotline, and the online portal. EMALSA is majority-owned by Gestagua (Spanish subsidiary of France-headquartered SAUR group), with the remaining stake held by the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria municipality; the company holds ISO 9001/14001/45001/27001/37001, ENS HIGH, ENAC, and GDPR certifications, and is undergoing a corporate consolidation via the June 2026 merger with wholly-owned subsidiary EMALSA OPERACIONES, S.A.U.

EMALSA's go-to-market is direct-to-consumer and direct-to-municipal: services are delivered to residents and businesses through physical customer offices, a virtual online office, a 24/7 emergency line, and prior-appointment scheduling, with the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria acting as the institutional anchor customer and regulatory counterpart. Distribution is fully domestic, serving only the concession territories in the Canary Islands.

Name

EMALSA

Legal name

EMPRESA MIXTA DE AGUAS DE LAS PALMAS, S.A.

Website

https://emalsa.es

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

EMALSA is a mixed public-private water utility that holds the municipal concession for the complete integral water cycle — desalination, supply, sewage, and treatment — for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Brígida in Spain's Canary Islands. It is majority-owned by Gestagua (SAUR group) with the municipality holding the remaining stake, and serves a population of approximately 380,000 residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Water Utility Services

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310), Sewage Treatment Facilities (22132), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213), Other Support Activities for Water Transportation (488390)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plants & Operations (EUANAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Desalination Plant EPC, O&M & Performance Optimization (EUANAFAK), SCADA, Instrumentation & Controls Integration for Water/Wastewater Projects (IMAFAGAK), Fresh Water Supply & Potable Water Delivery Coordination (TLAHAJAD)

Keywords

• Municipal water utility
• Seawater desalination
• Integral water cycle
• Wastewater treatment services
• Drinking water distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Las Palmas De Gran Canaria

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Water Supply Services: EMALSA operates as a mixed municipal water company providing integral water cycle services to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and surrounding municipalities. Revenue is generated through water tariffs charged to residential, commercial, and industrial customers based on consumption.
2. Wastewater and Sewage Services: Collection and treatment of wastewater through the sewage network, with services including maintenance of sewer infrastructure and processing of waste extracted from the sanitation network (over 155,000 kg in 2024).
3. Water Supply to Ships: EMALSA provides water supply services to ships at port.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

EMALSA manages the full integral water cycle for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Brígida, providing seawater desalination at the EDAM Las Palmas III plant (≈85% of supply), drinking water distribution, sewage collection, and wastewater treatment. The company also operates an ENAC-accredited water-quality laboratory, a real-time telemetry system monitoring about 13,000 infrastructure assets, and a virtual office for customer service, billing, and incident reporting.

Product overview

EMALSA (Empresa Mixta de Aguas de Las Palmas) is a mixed public-private water utility company managing the complete Integral Water Cycle for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Brígida. The company's core offering consists of integrated water cycle management including seawater desalination (primarily at the EDAM Las Palmas III plant), drinking water supply, sewage collection, and wastewater treatment. Customer-facing services include the Oficina Virtual online portal for account management, bill payment, and incident reporting. Operational technology includes a telematics system monitoring approximately 13,000 water cycle assets in real time, supported by an accredited laboratory conducting over 400 daily water quality analyses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gestión Integral del Ciclo del Agua (Integral Water Cycle Management)

Quantifiable outcome

• 10% reduction in specific energy consumption (kWh/m3) through reverse osmosis membrane upgrades
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) - Grupo de Investigación en Sistemas Energéticos Renovables (GRRES)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 June 2026EMALSA collaborates with ULPGC's GRRES research group to develop intelligent tools that anticipate water demand at the Las Palmas III desalination plant for more sustainable water management.
• DAQUAS (Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Agua)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEMALSA participates in the annual DAQUAS congress, a national reference forum for urban water sector. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, through EMALSA and Councilor Francisco Spínola, participated in the 38th congress to present the Strategic Plan for Hydraulic Infrastructure 2024-2033.
• ADEPSI (Asociación para el Desarrollo de Proyectos Sociales de Inserción)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEMALSA collaborated with ADEPSI enabling students from Integrated Labor Insertion programs (co-financed by European Social Fund and Canary Islands Employment Service) to carry out internships at the company.
• PLOCAN (Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and EMALSA collaborate with PLOCAN for the development of Electrical and Communications Infrastructure needed to evacuate electrical energy from the oceanic platform test bench to an electrical substation at EMALSA facilities in Piedra Santa, Jinámar.
• Desal+ (Desalination Research Project)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEMALSA is an associate of the Desal+ project and sponsored the I Investment Forum Desal+Startups for innovative desalination technologies, delivering the second prize to a project on microwave hydrolysis reactor for recovering active carbon in desalination plant pretreatments.
• AEAS (Asociación Española de Abastecimientos de Agua y Saneamiento)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEMALSA participates in AEAS campaigns to educate citizens about proper sanitation practices, including the 'toallitas húmedas no las tires por el WC' (don't flush wet wipes) initiative.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• FACSA: Spanish municipal water utility serving multiple Spanish municipalities with integral water-cycle services; another operator in Spain's mixed-ownership concession model adjacent to EMALSA's positioning.
• Global Omnium / AGBAR group entities: Valencia-headquartered Spanish water utility operating municipal concessions across multiple Spanish regions; comparable business model focused on integral water cycle management.
• Canaragua Consejeros SL: Canary Islands-based water utility providing municipal water and wastewater services across the archipelago; directly comparable geographic and operating context to EMALSA, though serving other islands.

Broad incumbents

• SAUR: Parent company of Gestagua and EMALSA's majority shareholder; a leading French-headquartered global water-cycle management operator with municipal concessions across multiple continents — the most directly comparable operator at group level.
• Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions: Global water and wastewater utility major with extensive municipal concession operations in Spain via Agbar; competes with EMALSA's parent for municipal water-cycle contracts.
• ACCIONA Agua: Spanish-headquartered global water infrastructure business operating desalination plants, water treatment, and concessions; relevant comparator on desalination technology and EPC plus O&M service lines.

Direct peers

• Aqualia: Spanish water utility subsidiary of FCC/ACS group operating integral water-cycle concessions across Spain, including desalination and municipal supply; directly competes in the same concession-based municipal water market.
• Gestagua: Spanish subsidiary of SAUR providing integral water-cycle services to multiple Spanish municipalities; operates under the same concession model and ownership group as EMALSA, making it the closest operational peer.
• Agbar (Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona): Historic Spanish water utility, now part of the Veolia group, operating municipal water and wastewater concessions throughout Spain including the Canary Islands region.
• Cadagua (Veolia): Spanish water treatment and desalination specialist within the Veolia group, operating municipal water-cycle contracts and seawater desalination plants — direct operational peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/emalsainforma
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/emalsa

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about EMALSA