Orihuela is drowning in garbage — and in political excuses. Residents now pay triple the waste tax, over 200 euros a year, yet the streets have never looked worse. Overflowing containers. Rotting trash. Broken bins left unreplaced. Families are paying record amounts for a collapsing service.
This is not mismanagement. It’s neglect. The PP–Vox government has allowed the city’s most basic service to fall apart while squeezing residents with an unjustified tax hike. “Pay more, get less” has become the slogan of Orihuela’s waste policy.
The numbers are damning. Seven million euros were budgeted in 2024 and 2025 for new trucks, bins and machinery. None of it has been spent. The city stinks while the money sits idle. Where has it gone? No one knows. What’s certain is that Orihuela is dirtier by the day.
The Local Waste Plan — once a promise of recycling, door-to-door collection and a cleaner, greener city — has been shelved. No progress. No campaigns. No results. Another wasted opportunity, literally.
The opposition — PSOE, Ciudadanos and Cambiemos — has forced an extraordinary commission for Monday. They want answers from the councillor for waste and the manager of the Environmental Management Agency. But answers are no longer enough. Residents deserve action.
The garbage fee itself is another scandal. The council ignored a motion to introduce social and proportional criteria, leaving struggling families to bear the same burden as the wealthy. It’s a tax that punishes the poor for the government’s incompetence.
Orihuela’s residents are right to feel cheated. They pay more. They get less. And their city grows dirtier by the week. The problem is not just garbage. It’s a government that treats basic services as an afterthought, leaving neighbourhoods to rot.
This is more than an eyesore. It’s a failure of leadership. A betrayal of trust. And a clear message that Orihuela cannot afford another day of political apathy.
The trash is mounting up. So is the anger.
