Barcelona manages to reduce waste in Ciutat Vella and launches a pioneering cleaning plan

Waste dumping in Ciutat Vella has fallen by as much as 42%. The City Council is stepping up monitoring and penalties. A new municipal plan introduces 130 actions and 42 projects to improve cleanliness. There will be mobile recycling points and reinforcement in school areas and parks.

Keeping the streets of Ciutat Vella clean has become a priority for people who live, work or stroll through the heart of Barcelona. After a year of strict measures and municipal campaigns, the district has managed to reduce rubbish dumping on public streets by up to 42%, depending on the area. This improvement is particularly noticeable in neighbourhoods such as El Raval and Casc Antic, where the presence of waste has visibly fallen.

The City Council has opted for a combined strategy: deterrent labels in the streets, information campaigns and, above all, financial penalties. Fines for leaving rubbish out of hours reach 600 euros, while other uncivil behaviour, such as urinating in the street or making graffiti without permission, can cost up to 1,500 euros. Commercial premises have also come under greater pressure: in 2025, around 900 informative visits were made to establishments, with 38% receiving unfavourable results for waste management, and more than a third of inspections ended in a penalty.

With these results on the table, the council has presented a new cleaning plan for Ciutat Vella’s four neighbourhoods. The document, the result of meetings with cleaning staff, residents and traders, includes 130 specific actions and 42 main projects. Among the new measures is the arrival, from autumn, of nine mobile recycling points with supervisors and information staff, operating Monday to Saturday during daytime hours. These points aim to make recycling easier for people who cannot put out rubbish between 20:00 and 22:00, and to reduce the build-up of bags during the day.

The plan also reorganises furniture collection, assigning a fixed day to each neighbourhood: Monday in Barceloneta, Wednesday in the Gòtic, Thursday in El Raval and Friday in Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera. In addition, cleaning frequencies will increase, the use of water and disinfectant products will be reinforced, and the exterior cleaning of containers and pneumatic collection chutes will be improved.

Special attention will be given to school surroundings and children’s parks, which will be cleaned before 9:00 and after pupils leave. Cleaning will also be reinforced in areas where homeless people sleep, with the aim of guaranteeing a healthier and more dignified environment for all residents.

Ciutat Vella, Barcelona’s oldest and most diverse district, brings together some of the city’s most complex urban challenges. Its narrow streets, high population density and intense commercial and tourist activity require innovative solutions adapted to its reality. Cleaning and civic-mindedness plans seek not only to improve the image of the historic centre, but also coexistence and the quality of life of those who live in and visit it every day.