Just over a year and a half after the municipality's most severe waste crisis, refuse is once again overflowing onto the streets of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. Resident complaints, particularly from coastal and tourist areas, have intensified in recent weeks, primarily affecting recycling bins surrounded by plastic bottles and cardboard.
The Councilor for Cleaning, Ruymán Cardoso, explained that one of the collection trucks is currently out of service due to a breakdown. He noted this coincides with a significant increase in waste generation at the beginning of August, although he assured that services have been reinforced to progressively restore normality.
Representing the PSOE, spokesperson Conchi Narváez criticized the new contract's operational effectiveness, stating that the bins are overwhelmed. She also pointed out that the bin design makes it difficult to properly separate recyclables, requiring items to be inserted one by one.
This situation echoes the crisis in January 2025, when the company Urbaser ceased services for over two weeks due to truck breakdowns, causing thousands of kilos of garbage to accumulate. That incident led the City Council to terminate the contract and award an emergency service to another company.
Subsequently, in May 2025, the selective collection of plastic, paper, and cardboard was awarded to Ayagaures Medioambiente S.L.U. for 4.87 million euros. The contract included the renewal of bins, increasing the units from 380 to 560, which Councilor Cardoso described as a "qualitative leap" and an improvement of over 100% in efficiency and operational capacity.
