Palma ranks as fifth dirtiest city in Spain

PALMA is currently ranked as the fifth dirtiest city in Spain, although city councillor Antonio Nadal, who is head of Emaya, does not agree with this assessment. He says he does not perceive Palma to be as dirty as is claimed, but, he added, “every situation can be improved, and we are working on it.” It is Emaya which is in charge of collecting rubbish and generally keeping the city clean, and it picks up between 35 and 45 tons a day of objects (fridges, old furniture, tyres) which people dump in the streets, in addition to the regular rubbish deposited in containers. Nadal denied that more attention was spent on keeping the old part of the city clean. He added that all areas were treated equally, but the centre remained clean for longer. But, he went on to say his department was working on a specific plan for each area, which involves meetings with neighbourhood associations to discuss needs. He also promised to get tough on people who failed to comply with the bylaws. The first two areas to benefit from these specific plans will be Terreno and Santa Catalina. The number of workers assigned to the areas will remain the same, but there will be more containers and more mechanical aids. Emaya has 262 road sweepers, 110 dustmen who collect rubbish every night, 17 road-sweeping machines (five of which are being repaired), six vehicles for vacuuming and spraying the streets, 12 lorries for hosing down the streets which can carry ten tons of water each, nine lorries for picking up domestic appliances from the home in the mornings and two for afternoons.