Litter & Dog mess

[Lloyd]

Just had friends come over to visit Torre for the first time. They thought the place was "OK". But were amazed at how generally unclean the pavements were in the side streets off the main areas..in particlar Dog cr*p everywhere and poor standard of walkways -- pot holes in pavements etc.
They've travelled a bit throughout Spain over the years and this is the worse place they've seen for Dog Cr*p & litter

Anyone had any comments like this from first time visitors?

[Crazy]

I Know what you mean it is sooooo Embarrassing when we have visitors we avoid certain places because of all the dog crap everywhere, Had a argument with a Spanish Guy the other week as he let his dogs crap on the car park area by our house.

[bikerchic]

dog mess

Go down any back street back in the UK and you have the same problem.

[durx]

The UK aint as bad as it used to be for dog c**p and litter, but if you look for it, you will see it.
Seems the Spanish have a very relaxed attitude towards the cleanliness of spanish streets, maybe cos they know a man with a blower and a brush will be around to clean it up.
I have seen many times the kids pulling out polystyrene and cardboard and making the place look like a battleground whilst parent look on spitting seed shells on the floor.
Whilst this all seems acceptable in Spain, i still find myself being dismayed by it.
I never throw litter or allow my kids to make a mess regardless whether it is to be cleaned the next day.
The same goes for the scrawlish graffiti (i dont mind the artistic stuff), and yes "tagging as its known" is a growing problem in the UK, but we still have away to go before we hit the level that certain parts of spain are at.

But you know, i still love spain regardless of its faults, although i think it does lack a certain amount of love for it by the spanish themselves.

Just my opinion.

Phil

[bikerchic]

The mess

I have been in spain for 20 years now, I was married to a spaniard and was intergrated to the spanish life, I lived in Almeria Capital for 14 of those years, A long while before it was made a tourist point for the foreigners, and it was always spotless, The same as Torrevieja was 20 years ago when there where less foreigners here. I live on an urbanisation where all the bars but one are British, Where the Brits come with their kids to have a drink,They let their kids do what they want and bother who they want as long as the parents can have a quiet drink, The kids usually run riot smashing bottles or doing graffiti or just getting drunk themselves then throwing up or urinating on someones wall, God help anyone thats dares say anything to them, All you get is a whole lot of four letter abuse. . I have seen kids as young as 14 with their parents getting drunk on Smirnoff ice. Are we Brits so perfect then that we can critise the spanish. I dont think so..So please people dont be so quick as to blame the spanish,Yes there are spanish that do this but i asure you, its mostly and unfortunatley the Brits. I love spain, But its down fall will be ignorant foreigners,unfortunatley a handfull spoil it for the rest..

[tommyg01]

Hi bikerchic,

I don`t think you can just blame the expats. I have visited my apartment in Torrevieja town centre many times over the last 4 years and I couldn`t tell you what any of the graffiti says as it is all in Spanish.

Tom

[durx]

Oh i know we Brits can be the worst kind of visitors that any place could have, but i think the Spanish also need to up their game somewhat as to what is socially acceptable, im painting them all with the same brush, far from it, but there defintley seems to be an air of disregard relating to there suroundings.
How many half decent UK restuarants do you know that would not try to either cover or remove graffiti from there walls, not many, its just become a way of life in Torre.
I was in Guardamar last summer having a wander around the town, and watched as a council worker was power washing graffiti of a wall (it was in Spanish not english), and that is something i have never seen in Torre, it just gets left.
When i bought my property, the guy from Gama explained that the lads who do the tagging are mainly Spanish, and to try and stop it the authorities confiscated their scooters as means to halt it,, but it didnt work.

Yeah i know the Brits can be a loud drunken bunch, and arrogant ignorant and plenty more. Classic example on holiday showdown TV on last night, made me cringe.
I can put up with loud drunks, as i just go elsewhere, i wish the litter and graffiti distributers would do the same.

Phil

[Brickie]

The Urbanisation I live on is predominantly British and the pavements are littered with dog crap. We have doggy bins and have advised all owners to pick up the crap.

Some people do but the vast majority you see walking their dogs never carry a bag in order to pick it up but just leave it littering the pavements.

As for their children they are not much better. If you approach them on your own apart from the barrage of foul language, all you get is we are English and we will do what we want.

[Lloyd]

So has anyone got any practical ideas on how to reolve the litter and dog crap.
I don't want to get onto the "Brits Abroad" subject as that one has been flogged to death and normally leads to subjective emotional comments.

For me the Spanish are the worse culprits. Perhaps improved awareness from the media could help improve the problem?

[durx]

I have been doing a bit of driving around over the past 2 weeks, and have found some lovely clean places, some mainly spanish and some full of ex-pats.
Just down the road the streets and buildings on Benijifor were all being repaired and made to look new, as was Aspe and Sax and numerous othe towns i visited.
To me it appears to be a city and culture thing with the spanish, much as it is with the Brits in UK, as whilst torre is in parts filthy and full of crap and grafitti, other parts are not too bad.
Every morning i watched the street cleaners clean up the same old mess from the same old places left by the same groups (kids and adults alike) which is fair enough, as it gives employment, but they know whatever mess is left, it will be cleaned.
I saw 2 Guardia Civil stop to pick up empty bottles left on a wall an put in bins.
The dog crap is more than just lazy its unhealthy, but not all owners just leave it, some do take it away.
Litter is just a disregard for the envirnoment and image, whilst graffiti is vandalism.
lately around torre the plots of knocked down buildings, those that have become over grown and used as tips, walls to hide or protect the land have apeared, they were then rendered and white washed to a brilliant canvas for the spray can brigade, who took full advantage of it.

My whole point is this;

why do some smaller communities clean up their streets and keep it that way, whilst larger so called tourist area's like torre just clean what they can sweep up and ignore the more permanent litter like graffiti.
They must have the monies to tackle this, but they wont as they may well see it as a useless excercise.

I read in an article the other day about how clean and good the air is around torre due to its unique microclimate, didnt mention the plastic bags blowing around ones feet.

still though, i like the place and its buzz, but i have decided to move.

phil