Recommoning Water Terrassa’s Citizen-Driven Remunicipalization

In 2019, Terrassa remunicipalized its water services, creating a citizen water observatory. The empirical findings demonstrate that water activists in Terassa’s observatory are reclaiming and reproducing the commons on a daily basis through a process of experimentation with institutional bricolage and (re)negotiation of power and autonomy. While the water utility is in public municipal ownership, the citizen-led observatory is ensuring that resources are shared in common, are used for the common good, and are reproducing the commons. Our study concludes that water remunicipalization can act as an important step for enabling processes of recommoning. Nevertheless, the institutionalization of recommoning water under a public management regime is confronted with multifaceted tensions that merit attention from both activists and policy makers.