The Alcobendas City Council has sent a request to the Ministry of Transport to clean the new acoustic screens of the A-1, which are covered in graffiti. The mayor, Rocío García Alcántara, is demanding an urgent meeting with Minister Óscar Puente.
The Alcobendas City Council has taken a stand and demanded that the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility act immediately on the acoustic screens of the A-1. The reason: the brand new noise barriers, installed to protect residents from traffic, already look deplorable due to graffiti.
The mayor, Rocío García Alcántara, has been emphatic: "We will not allow vandalism to deteriorate our municipality." The City Council reminds that these infrastructures are state-owned, so the responsibility for their maintenance lies with the ministry headed by Óscar Puente.
Fines of up to 3,000 euros and surveillance with drones
The City Council's zero tolerance policy translates into fines that can reach 3,000 euros for those caught vandalising. To catch the graffiti artists, the Local Police of Alcobendas has deployed a special operation that combines foot patrols with aerial surveillance drones.
Thanks to this strategy, several offenders have already been caught in the act and the materials they used have been confiscated. "Technology is on our side," municipal sources point out, expressing hope that the pressure will deter vandals.
The July 15th Plenary will address the issue
Community discontent is not new. In fact, before installing the screens, the City Council already negotiated with the Roads Demarcation to set the barriers back between 18 and 20 meters to minimise the landscape impact in areas such as La Moraleja, Soto de La Moraleja, and El Encinar de los Reyes.
Now, the municipal groups of the Popular Party and Vox will present motions at the upcoming July 15th Plenary to demand immediate cleaning from the ministry, the application of anti-graffiti treatments, and an urgent meeting between the minister, the mayor, and the community representatives of the affected developments. The study of beautification measures, such as the incorporation of vegetation, is also being considered.
For the residents of Alcobendas, the situation is doubly frustrating: on one hand, the noise from traffic that was supposed to be mitigated; on the other, the eyesore of screens that look like a canvas rather than a solution. "We pay taxes for things to work, not to see this," sums up a resident of La Moraleja.
The ball is now in the court of the Ministry of Transport. Meanwhile, the drones continue to fly over the A-1.
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