Madrid Sanitation Strike, Day 10

on my block this week

Last week, sanitation workers in Madrid went on strike. As October 5th approached, fears of our daily grocery bag-fulls of trash piling up loomed large my roommate and I wondered whether this included the porter in our building.

Good news: it didn't include our porter, or the folks who pick up trash from homes. Bad news: it included every other person who empties trash cans, sweeps up sidewalks and removes curbside rubbish. All of 'em.

near the city center

After more than a week without the service of the sanitation workers, things are getting pretty nasty - and smelly. I've accepted that dog waste on the sidewalk is a reality of Madrid, and it's now exacerbated by the addition of waste from businesses and random/lazy/frugal people who regularly dispose of home trash in public receptacles. I've heard that the trash piles are topping 6 feet in some neighborhoods! On top of the sheer volume of trash, word around town is that the striking workers are the ones dumping bins in the middle of the sidewalk, setting trash cans on fire and pulling other particularly foul pranks.

Of course, the stinky, dirty, rat-calling sidewalks are only one side of the issue. From my understanding, sanitation was privatized in the last several years. As Madrid's construction market, which was booming a few years ago, continues to contract, these companies' bottom lines indicate a need to further downsize. Just one of the major companies reportedly has on the table a plan to cut 1,000 jobs in Madrid and decrease wages of remaining workers by 40%. Just pause for a second and think about how you would manage with nearly half the income you currently make. I just did...and now I feel like kicking the crap (literally) out of a garbage can or two myself. As bad as I felt for myself (not that bad, really) or for tourists visiting Madrid during this uncharacteristically dirty episode, the suffering is very real for these people clinging to their livelihoods in a dismal economy. It's not really helping that the mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, doesn't see a need to address the issue.

apparently café con leche is more Ana's "thang"

More bad news: my coworker said that the last sanitation strike (about 20 years ago) lasted 32 days...Roll up yer' pantalones, Madrileños - this could get nasty!