Getting El Presidente to take action on neighbours rubbish

[Sampson]

I live on an urb which is gradually taking shape and looking good, mainly due to the initiatives of previous Presidents and residents. It is on the campo and surrounded by farmland and polytunnels which is generally a bit neglected, but no doubt in time will be developed for housing.

For several years I've been trying to persuade the President of our community to take action on the volume of dumped rubbish that is on land adjacent and owned by Spanish farmers and banks. The rubbish is in various forms, but largely constructional materials that will never be used, plus miscellaneous fly tipping that is gradually accumulating. He is Spanish and seems oblivious to the mess around him and has half promised to take action, but has not done anything.

I've done some basic research and believe I'm correct in say that in Spain the Environmental legislation is similar to the UK whereby the owner of land is responsible to clear up all rubbish etc including fly tipped material regardless, unless they are able to identify the culprit. So in theory a request from the President should result in the mounds of rubbish being removed. If not the local Environmental Health department may be asked to become involved and presumably will issue an enforcement notice if necessary.

But I have no practical experience and would be interested if anyone else has encountered this situation and/or can provide any pointers on the way to achieve some progress. Including will the local Environmental Health department be interested?

We have a lovely location with communal gardens and distant mountains, but utterly spoilt by several eyesores that have been in situ for years and locals just don't seem at all bothered or wish to see an improvement.

[Flexo]

No idea but I would love to get updates on this further along the line. I have a similar problem here.

[Sampson]

Looks like we're out of luck Flexo.

It seems to me that a lot of ex pats kind of "go native". They get used to the mounds of rubble and plastic to the the point that it doesn't bother them as you might expect - like the locals.

[jhonie99]

You're an immigrant, so anything you say to the president will automatically be ignored. He, as a Spaniard will decide what's important.

Theoretically, it's an offence not to keep private property free of rubbish, etc. Townhalls can issue a notice to the owners, instructing them to cleanup. Then if nothing happens, the townhall does the work and the owner must pay. I can assure you, it never happens. The owner can simply say that it's not rubbish, even though it clearly is rubbish.

So all that really can be done, is to try and shame an owner into cleaning up - that's how our association deals with dirty neighbours in our village.

[Free at Last]

Theoretically, it's an offence not to keep private property free of rubbish, etc. Townhalls can issue a notice to the owners, instructing them to cleanup. Then if nothing happens, the townhall does the work and the owner must pay. I can assure you, it never happens. The owner can simply say that it's not rubbish, even though it clearly is rubbish.

Not true, in my experience. I have an empty building across the street from my house, which was formerly a day nursery. After it had been empty for some time, rubbish had accumulated in the front patio and the exterior of the building had become very dilapidated. I made a denuncia to the Urbanismo department of the Ayuntamiento. They sent a party of people, including Councillors, to inspect the building and subsequently served an enforcement notice (which I received a copy of) on the owner of the building (the Diocese of Málaga) telling them to either rectify the problems or that, as you say, they would do and the owner would be billed, plus a fine. Nothing happened by the date quoted in the enforcement notice so I complained again, they served another enforcement notice (which I also got a copy of) quoting a larger fine, and the clean-up and repair work was then carried out, plus a local family were given the keys and they have kept the place tidy ever since.

Does the OP have to wait for the President of the Community to do something? Why can't he make a complaint as a citizen who is being affected by the problem¿

[Sampson]

Thanks for the comments which gives me a little encouragement.

Why don't I do it myself? I'm non resident and only in Spain for brief periods, there are lots of adjacent landowners on all sides causing the problem, so it's not an easy one. I already solely look after a large residents association in the UK without claiming any fee or expenses, so I like to think I'm not a guy who complains from the sidelines, but does nothing myself. Additionally I feel that the President has the authority and I don't want to "tread on toes" which may be counter productive. But I may do so as a last resort.

Part of the reason for my post was my astonishment that the Spanish just don't seem to even see the rubbish around them, such a shame in a naturally beautiful country.