Spain will allow 6,000 tons of rubbish from Gibraltar to be disposed of in Cadiz

Spain will allow 6,000 tons of rubbish from Gibraltar to be disposed of in Cadiz

Spain will allow 6,000 tons of rubbish from Gibraltar to be disposed of in Cadiz. image: Verdemar / Ecologists in Action

6,000 tons of rubbish will be transferred from Gibraltar to a landfill in the Cadiz municipality of Los Barrios

Tons and tons of rubbish have accumulated on the Rock of Gibraltar because of Brexit. An agreement with the Commonwealth of Municipalities of Campo de Gibraltar had allowed Gibraltar to dispose of solid urban waste (RSU).

It was regularly deposited in the Southern Europe Environmental Complex, located in the Cadiz municipality of Los Barrios. But, the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union has caused another bureaucratic and social problem in the region.

In this case, it has also degenerated into an environmental one, since Gibraltar has not been able to dispose of its MSW this year.

El Peñon has sent 30,000 tons of rubbish to the Los Barrios landfill every year for decades, but since the beginning of 2022 it has piled up 6,000 tons of waste on its east face, and tunnels, due to the impossibility of it crossing the border.

This circumstance has created the risk of the rubbish ending up in the sea, which has motivated the Government of Gibraltar to use crushing machinery, in order to increase storage capacity.

However, this solution has been provisional, as has the authorisation of the Spanish Ministry of the Environment, necessary for the transfer of the 6,000 tons of MSW, which was already beginning to be packed last week.

Thus, the Government of Spain, the administration responsible, now that Brexit is finalised, has given the green light to the operation for the permits for the transport and deposit of garbage in the Southern Europe Environmental Complex.

As reported by the environmental group Verdemar, since the beginning of February, the waste has been accumulating by the sea, and may cause “an episode of environmental pollution for the entire bay”.

Similarly, the Transborder Group, made up of trade union and business entities from the Campo de Gibraltar and El Peñon, has complained about the delay in bureaucratic procedures, which have blocked the transfer of the RSU, as reported by eldebate.com.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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