THE SUMMER RUBBISH TRAIL IS BACK
As is customary every summer, Benitatxell Town Council brightens up our lives with the “SUMMER RUBBISH TRAIL”, which we highly recommend to both residents and visitors.
Last year, our concerns reached a peak when the councillor responsible for waste management confirmed that the 2025 event would be the last one. On 27th May, he even stated his intention that, by the summer of 2026, all rubbish collection points in Cumbre del Sol would be fitted with cameras.
The initial plan to fence off the rubbish collection points also caused great concern amongst residents. We feared the worst: that the Council would introduce software to monitor sick leave and staff holidays and use it during the festivities when some of the staff assigned to Cumbre have to carry out door-to-door collection duties in the village with both day and night shifts, or to increase the frequency of collections or to contract an additional collection service during the summer months, as is done in other neighbouring municipalities, such as Benissa.
Fortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than a scare. None of that has happened, and here in Benitatxell we continue to enjoy the now legendary ‘SUMMER RUBBISH TRAIL’, which already attracts more interest than the festivities themselves.
Let’s hope it receives the recognition it deserves from local residents and is designated a site of cultural interest, given that the rubbish tax rate for holiday homes certainly warrants such recognition, as it is the highest in the Marina Alta.
We must thank the Council for this place of honour, given the legal constraints that oblige to calculate the rubbish collection charge on the basis of the cost of waste generation, as stipulated by law, and the Council’s efforts to circumvent the law by failing to provide the economic and technical report on which the calculation of the charge is based, despite being obliged to do so.
On 16 March 2026, the Ombudsman issued a decision closing Complaint 2504796, reminding the Council of its legal obligation to do so; however, the Council also ignored this decision. All members of the public, including members of the Valencian Parliament, will be able to see the failure to act on the measures proposed by the Ombudsman in these proceedings, as published in 12472871.pdf
No law can stop our local council from continuing to run the ‘Summer Rubbish Trail’!
El Poble Nou de Benitatxell has been recognised by the Valencian Regional Government as a ‘Municipality of Tourist Distinction’ for the year 2025. The news went largely unnoticed and the criteria for retaining this distinction were not made public, but thanks to the invaluable efforts of the waste management department, we are once again able to enjoy the ‘SUMMER RUBBISH TRAIL’.
We have marked the main points of interest along the route on the map:
- QUESTIONS FROM OVFC TO JAVI CABRERA
- FENCING OF FOUR WASTE COLLECTION POINTS AT CUMBRE DEL SOL
- THE OMBUDSMAN OVERSEES THE COUNCIL'S LACK OF RESPONSE TO RUBBISH TAX ALLEGATIONS
- NEW RUBBISH TAX FOR TOURIST ACCOMMODATION IN BENITATXELL
- OVFC’S OPEN LETTER TO THE MAYOR REGARDING CURRENT RUBBISH COLLECTION FAILINGS
© Pepe Blas. OVFC Co-founder & Treasurer. All rights reserved.
Thank you, Pepe, for preaching in the wilderness
ReplyDeleteWhat can we do to pressure the councillor in charge of waste management or the mayor about this disgusting issue
ReplyDeleteFiesta en el Pueblo basura en La Cumbre
ReplyDeleteLike evey year, the pueblo is recovering from a week end of fiesta y La Cumbre basuras are overflowed....
Este podría ser el slogan para una campaña municipal “A nadie le interesan tus basuras” aunque a decir verdad mejor ahorrarse el dinero. Es algo bien sabido por todos.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very well written piece. It invites the relevant councillors to be proud of their contribution to the visual and tourist environment.
ReplyDeleteThey will pay the price at the polls.
ReplyDeleteThe cases you have reported are not isolated incidents. We have been in the same situation for several days now, with rubbish collection being neglected.
ReplyDeleteI see 2 problems, both are important:
ReplyDelete1. The frequency and/or volume of the rubbish pickup during the summer months.
2. The discipline of people when bringing their garbage to the dumps: some people don't even adhere to the well documented recycling rules (dumping plastic in the paper container, dumping recycables in the general waste container, ...) and even dumping all kinds of garbage that should be delivered to the ecopark!
So let's stop blaming the town for everything, and let's start taking up our responsibility as well!
More frequent rubbish collection and an increased number of bins would be the quickest and simplest solution. The installation of CCTV cameras would help to tackle low recycling rates and the illegal dumping of rubbish. The Council is responsible for these two measures. My impression is that there aren’t enough staff. There used to be two people working on the rubbish collection service. Now the driver does all the work on his own. In the area around the Mercadona opposite the Chinese Bazaar, the Council stores new containers which, for some inexplicable reason, it does not use. People’s lack of discipline is an undeniable fact, but it is also undeniable that every year we face the same problems in the summer, coinciding with the village festivities. The local council recently ran a campaign against dog fouling but at Cumbre there appears to be no interest in resolving a recurring problem. It is only right and necessary to ask the Council for an explanation.
ReplyDeleteLet’s not confuse quantity with quality. Even if rubbish has been recycled incorrectly, it must still be collected.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand there is a period of 3 weeks in the summer when the town hall employs extra personal to pick up the rubbish overflow caused by visitors.
ReplyDeleteSo what I see on the photos and read in the comments , that is not enough.
We need more!
Trudi van Dorp
By their fruits you will know them
ReplyDeleteEsto no puede seguir así. Llevamos ya 4 días con los contenedores desbordados. O bien no hay interés en solucionarlo o bien los responsables son incompetentes o las dos cosas.
ReplyDeleteLet’s take the rubbish from Cumbre to the Town Hall
ReplyDeleteThe councillor responsible for waste is prioritising door-to-door collections in the village during the festivities, with both day and night shifts. The operators are overwhelmed. As far as Cumbre is concerned, there are no spare operators and no one is being recruited. That is why there is so much rubbish everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt’s been a week now that the bins have been overflowing day after day. Mr Javier Cabrera, can you tell us what you’re doing to sort this out? Aren’t you really ashamed of yourself?
ReplyDelete