Book excerpt: Technical regulation of urban water services: The Portuguese regulatory model of water and wastewater services. An integrated approach; Experiences and conclusions from regulation in England and Wales; Experiences and conclusions from regulation in Australia; Experiences and conclusions from regulation in Denmark; Experiences and conclusions from regulation in Latin America; The German benchmarking experience. An alternative to regulation; The assessment of water services from the point of view of multilateral organizations. The experience of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Regulation in Spain from the perspective of the urban water services; Reasons that justify the regulation of urban water services in Spain; Can a regulator contribute to solve the problems of the urban water cycle in Spain?; Regulatory models. Conclusions