Joaquim Costa street in the Raval, overflowing with trash: "We are fed up with it"

BarcelonaOverflowing dumpsters and trash piled up on public roads are now more common than ever on Joaquim Costa street, in the heart of the Raval. Neighbors and merchants claim that this is a situation that has been dragging on since the Barcelona City Council installed 27 pneumatic collection bins there and that it is seriously affecting the commercial life of this street full of businesses. They agree that the rotating hatch system "cannot keep up" with the amount of waste that is dumped there. Although it is not a new problem, they report that it has worsened with the work currently being done on the pavement and are demanding solutions from the municipal government, which is in charge of waste management.

"It's getting worse and worse," assures Lídia Matos, owner of the Fusta'm shop, at number 62 Joaquim Costa street. After 16 years behind the display window of this shop selling vintage objects, Matos does not trust that the situation will change: "Everyone is very fed up with it." The revolving door of these containers is activated with a manual lever or a pedal, but it is common to find the mechanism jammed due to the excess of waste, she describes. In fact, the shopkeeper was a neighbor on the same street, but she left because of the dirt and the noise from the construction work. Now, she says, she has learned to stop worrying about it.

The Vicenç Morató hair salon is located right in front of three mailboxes and dumpsters, which "are full at all hours," explains the owner, of the same name, who is also a member of the Nou Ponent Merchants Association. He highlights the health issues this entails, "from bugs to rats." He believes this situation has also contributed to a recent reduction in the volume of work. Matos, from Fusta'm, demands the need to promote more "education and awareness" from public administrations to avoid problems of incivility. He emphasizes policies of the Jaume Collboni government that have not reversed the situation: "The 'Pla Endreça' (Tidy Up Plan) is just a sticker," he asserts.

The works also affect

Ziaul, the manager of Nou Basar, a shop tucked between dumpsters, trash, and construction scaffolding, is also a witness to the misuse of the system. The street is also full of fences and platforms covering holes opened in the pavement, which hinders the passage of pedestrians and access to the shops. He himself has had to move piled-up waste that was obstructing the way to the shop. There was so much that it reached his waist, he says. The shopkeepers assert that the poor state of Joaquim Costa street seriously affects the profitability of small businesses.

The iconic modernist bar Casa Almirall is also suffering from it: "We are destined to close, all of us," laments the owner, Pere Pina, pointing out the cost that all this implies for businesses. "The government must be aware of the losses that this entails," he concludes. Despite the requests to the City Council and the pressure from the merchants' association, Morató and Matos lament the lack of solutions from the local council, which, despite renewing the mailboxes three years ago, has not managed to reverse the situation. Morató demands more frequent garbage collection trucks. As of now, the municipal government has not made any assessment of the situation.