Fears in Malaga and Costa del Sol town halls over political cost of imposing Spain’s new rubbish tax

The debate over the new refuse collection tax is intensifying and taking on significant political dimensions. Local councils are warily giving each other the side-eye. Few issues are less popular than increasing taxes. Moreover, in most cases, no one stops to ask who is responsible for imposing the charge: they simply see a bill and who is collecting the money. SUR has analysed the particular circumstances for the 12 most-populated municipalities in Malaga province. It so happens that they are all led by the Partido Popular (PP). Broadly speaking, they fear a surge in litigation and having to bear the political cost of issuing a new tax bill in some cases or increasing the existing amount billed in others. The technical and legal questions about how to pass on the full cost of the service are also considerable.

What is clear is that town halls must ensure full compliance with this type of state law that, in turn, lays out the framework laid out by an EU directive. So, this is where the big debate arises: is Spain interpreting the EU regulation too strictly?

In the provincial capital, they are scrambling to adjust the ordinance to collect the new tax. Refuse collection has been included in the IBI property tax for more than two decades. However, the breakdown of charges is unknown. Municipal sources confirm to SUR that the final wording is well under way and they regret the inaccuracies and the confusion that, in their opinion, the state law has created. They also mention the problems that have arisen in Madrid and the court-ordered suspension of the measure being implemented in León.

The issue is that the exact increase is still unknown. Initially, the calculation was going to be linked to water consumption. Now it will be tied to the cadastral value and the number of inhabitants. There is a lot of sensitivity surrounding this, given that residents will see a ‘new’ tax and it won’t be cheap. If calculated by water consumption, the bill could reach 224 euros per year. Still, we will have to wait for the ordinance. In any case, the tax will not be applied until next year.

Malaga city council’s finance committee discussed the issue in October and approved a motion requesting central government not to force them to pass on the full cost to service users. Finance councillor Carlos Conde pledged to study property tax reductions, now that bills are going to be separated. “We’re discussing this here because there’s a waste directive and a waste law, which are mandatory. Local councils have little say. It’s absurd that each municipal authority is applying it differently. But we are obligated to implement these measures,” the councillor stated.

The annual cost of Limasam, Malaga city’s refuse collection service, including the entire cleaning, refuse collection and treatment process, is 255 euros per resident per year. This is a purely statistical reference based on the municipal budget and does not mean that it will be applied to the new tax.

Such was the pronouncement made a few days ago by Félix Romero, finance councillor and spokesperson for Marbella’s municipal team, at the regular meeting of the full council at which the new increase was approved. It will be 20% for domestic households and up to 50% for hotels, restaurants and beach bars. However, the governing team believes it will not have a significant impact: an additional five euros annually for a house located in a low-income area and 25 euros more for a villa in the town centre.

“This is an imposition from the national government. We had our service perfectly structured and our costs covered by the budget. We neither need nor want this tax”, was Romero’s clear, concise statement on the matter.

Mijas has had a separate charge for refuse collection and recycling since at least 1989. Municipal sources point out that the municipality covers the entire cost of waste collection, but the increased cost of recycling (due to improved methods and new taxes) means that the total cost of the service is higher than what is passed on in the current tax rate. “We are evaluating the criteria used by other municipalities to distribute the cost among residents (by property value, number of residents, and so on) to determine if a review is necessary”, says the council spokesperson.

Mijas council has further expressed its annoyance at the lack of clear guidelines from central government: “Perhaps it would have been better if the Spanish government had established a single criterion, technical rather than a political one, for sharing out the cost among users, as well as to implement measures that encourage recycling.”

Regarding potential litigation, Mijas council hopes to avoid it with a sound ordinance and common sense. “We are all united in the fight for recycling and sustainability.”

Vélez-Málaga has just approved the new rubbish tax in the latest council meeting. Residents’ complaints are multiplying and the opposition is considering taking legal action. The two-party coalition running the council criticises the state imposition and estimates it will generate around 7.2 million euros in revenue annually.

Residents of Vélez-Málaga have not paid this tax since the mid-1990s, when it was incorporated into the IBI. “It’s not at all pleasant for me to have to approve a waste tax forced on us by the Spanish government,” was how mayor Jesús Lupiáñez summed up the situation.

The new tax will be levied on both households, (ranging from 101 to 135 euros), and businesses, (at an average cost of 112.30 euros). The projected cost of the service for the collection and treatment of solid urban waste amounts to 7.185 million euros annually, according to the documentation finally approved at last Friday’s council meeting. Of this amount, 72.59% will be passed on to the 48,494 cadastral units of existing homes in Vélez-Málaga, while the remaining 27.41% will be covered by the 10,216 businesses that are actively trading. A total of 126,000 euros have been set aside to subsidise low-income families.

In the case of this new household bill, each home will be assigned a fixed annual charge of 62.66 euros, while the variable portion will be calculated based on the property’s cadastral value, surface area and environmental efficiency, split as 45%, 45% and 10% respectively. Thus, the price range for the new tax will be between 101.86 and 135.54 euros per home every 12 months. In the case of industrial waste, the average cost will be 112.30 euros per year.

In Fuengirola, the rubbish tax was already paid separately and municipal sources have indicated there will be no change: “We have no plans to apply it because what taxpayers already pay sufficiently covers the cost of treating the waste they generate. As the current fee covers the cost of the service, it has not been necessary to come up with an estimate.”

Still, the ruling party in Fuengirola also criticises the state law: “The EU regulation does not require applying this exorbitant tax mentioned in the transposition [the EU’s order for a directive to be followed], which also fails to provide logical or reasonable criteria for calculating said rip-off tax.”

Applying the law with changes would, in their view, lead to an increase in complaints. “Residents, groups or organisations would rightly feel harmed.”

In Estepona, waste was already being paid for separately. The new ordinance was adapted to the state law and came into effect on January 1st. The average increase is 5.5%, according to municipal sources.

“The municipal ordinance includes a 3% reduction on the full amount of the tax for those taxpayers who take admissible waste to an authorised recycling centre a minimum of three times a year, waste for which there are no containers on public streets. This mitigates the increase resulting from the application of this central government law”, they added.

For the town council, imposing this law was not mandatory: “The European directive mandates the objective, but provides alternatives to fulfilling it. Central government is the one that decided to make it a tax and it did so without consulting local councils, thus undermining the autonomy of local government. It is the government’s own decision, imposed by law, which also creates inequalities between municipalities.”

Benalmádena town hall is currently assessing the EU directive and its future implementation in the municipality, although they say that they are reassured by there already being a municipal tax in place for refuse collection that is paid separately.

“Through this municipal tax, the town hall currently covers the cost of the service, as required by law. Specifically, the cost of waste collection varies depending on the type of dwelling, with three established categories: apartment, single-family home and multi-family building”, stated the council.

The rubbish tax in Torremolinos was also paid separately and the state law has been applied since January 1st. “The amount of the domestic rubbish tax has not changed, except in some cases where it was subsidised, but the new law required a higher level of vulnerability. In the industrial waste collection charge, the main change has been for tourist accommodation, which has been reclassified from domestic to industrial”, explained municipal sources.

Once again, there is criticism of central government: “The European directive is correct and appropriate; what is not is the fact that the Spanish government has decided to transfer this responsibility to the municipal authorities, when there was the possibility of creating a state tax and, with the funds collected, allocating them to local councils so they could carry out the necessary measures to comply with the directive’s objective. They have chosen to do nothing about it and have simply passed this responsibility on to the local councils, without any mechanism or financial tool.”

“We are concerned about the financial shortcomings of local councils and that a governing body at the national level is not able to transfer funds to adapt to a European directive that involves a profound change in waste management.”

Rincón de la Victoria also had a rubbish tax, but it did not cover the cost of the service, which is why it had to be modified to comply with the regulation so that the tax paid would not leave them in cost deficit.

The new tax came into force on 1 January this year, so the council has met the deadlines. As for the amounts, these vary between residential and commercial properties.

Previously, there were different types of housing, each with its own associated fee. The modified ordinance respected these categories and recalculated the tax to be paid. The recalculation took into account the average characteristics of each type of housing, adopting a reasonable and proportionate approach that considered factors such as the size of the dwelling, the estimated average number of inhabitants, the statistical amount of waste generated per person, the presence of gardens, the presence of pets and so on. Based on all of this and, with an average occupancy per dwelling of three people, the new tax rate has been created. The monthly increase for households ranges from 1.46 to 4.86 euros.

Regarding commercial premises, calculations have been made based on the approximate amount of waste they generate according to the nature of their business activity, size and more. Various types of tourist accommodation have been included. “The table is very extensive because there are many different types of businesses. The increases in the amount are not as uniform as in the case of homes and the increase is greater, but several factors are taken into consideration. There were many inequalities between businesses and businesses have the capacity to pass on this increase”, stated the council. Again, the finger is pointed at central government: “The directive does not directly impose on member states the obligation to establish or increase waste collection fees, much less require citizens to bear 100% of the cost of this service. What is clear is that local councils are now implementing this European directive when central government could have taken charge. At the end of the day, local councils are bearing the brunt of the backlash, as residents only understand that their bills have gone up.”

Local authorities have been forced to increase the rubbish tax due to central government imposition, they add. So, despite the number of documents on which the ordinance is based, they agree with the sentiments of FEMP (the Spanish federation of municipalities and provinces): “FEMP asked the government in 2024 to modify the law to avoid possible conflicts, but the government has turned a deaf ear. All in all, local councils are faced with justified complaints from citizens and will have to face a high level of litigation in the future.”

In Alhaurín de la Torre, where there are many complaints about the new prices, the issue was also on the agenda at this week’s council meeting. “It has generated an understandable concern among residents, self-employed workers and small businesses in Alhaurín de la Torre and throughout Spain. It forces town halls to pass on 100% of the cost of the waste collection and treatment service to taxpayers, without the possibility of subsidising or compensating part of the cost with their own municipal resources. Until the implementation of this regulation, town halls could cover part of the cost of the service with funds from their general budget”, stated the motion presented by the governing team.

“This has meant a significant increase in bills, especially for the self-employed, small businesses and professional freelancers, sectors already hard hit by inflation and rising energy costs. Alhaurín de la Torre’s town hall shares the concerns of its residents and considers it unfair that local governments are forced to act as mere collectors of state and European regulations with no room for manoeuvre or the possibility of applying local policies of equity and support to the most vulnerable sectors,” they stated, with the PP councillors calling for changes in the law.

The town known for its rock formations at El Torcal has had its rubbish tax in operation since 2015 and next year it will have to apply an increase. Mayor Manuel Barón spoke with SUR and agreed with the general consensus. “Until now, the town hall has been paying it from its own funds. But I didn’t want to pass it on to my townsfolk without first providing the necessary containers, hiring staff and so on. We have no choice. Despite our rejection and outright opposition, we have to comply with the law, imposed under the false pretence that Europe demands it. What the EU says is that the ‘polluter pays’ principle must be applied,” he says.

Antequera is going to use the water tax register as the basis for calculating the rubbish tax and, according to the mayor, the annual increase will be 45 euros. At least he welcomes the fact that Valsequillo, Malaga province’s major waste treatment and composting centre, is within Antequera’s municipal border, which reduces transport costs.

“Citizens need to know that it’s not the local councils, but [central] government that’s forcing this made-up tax on them. I’m going to say it ad nauseam”, he concludes.

Mari Carmen Martínez, municipal delegate responsible for Soliarsa, Ronda’s public waste management company, mentions that the rubbish tax was already paid separately, but that it will now have to increase by 60%. She is also critical of the regulatory framework: “The European directive addresses the issue of waste in order to improve waste management, but it has not taken account of the resource and management capacity of each country. Its application to the Spanish legal system has not been carried out correctly and it has shifted the problem to the local councils without providing them with the financial resources for its implementation and management, forcing them to pass the entire cost on to the people. Legislatively, the imposition of the tax as a single item poses significant legal uncertainty that could have serious repercussions.”

She also expressed her concern about the high level of litigation.