Getafe stands up to the expansion of the landfills in Pinto and Valdemingómez

The City Council of Getafe has formally submitted objections against the expansion projects of the Pinto and Valdemingómez landfills, citing serious environmental risks and a territorial imbalance that punishes southern Madrid.

The City Council of Getafe has formalised its rejection of the plans by the Community of Madrid to expand the Pinto and Valdemingómez landfills. Through technical objections, the local government has expressed its strong opposition to these projects, which it considers a threat to the health of residents and the environment.

Risks for Perales del Río and the surrounding area

The Councillor for Ecological Transition and the Environment, Jesús Pérez, has explained that the expansion of Valdemingómez, with two new cells, would directly affect the Getafe neighbourhood of Perales del Río. “The increase in odours will be unbearable for residents,” he warned. In the case of Pinto, the project plans to raise the level over already closed cells, which poses an additional environmental risk.

Pérez emphasised the urgency of halting both initiatives: “We hope that the objections will be taken into account and that the expansions will not be authorised.” The councillor reminded that the Community of Madrid is at the bottom in recycling in all of Spain, despite its high GDP, and that the lack of reduction and reuse policies forces the continuous expansion of landfills without limit.

A south turned into a regional landfill

The municipal objections denounce a serious territorial imbalance. Getafe is within the impact radius of the two largest treatment plants in the region, which manage waste from 72 municipalities, including the capital. This amounts to 5.5 million inhabitants, over 70% of the Madrid population. “Southern Madrid is being treated like a landfill,” the councillor criticised.

The City Council demands that the Community of Madrid take on its planning responsibilities and implement decentralisation policies for waste. “We cannot continue concentrating all the rubbish in the south,” Pérez insisted, recalling that the region systematically fails to meet European recycling targets.

What now?

The objections submitted by Getafe add to those from other affected municipalities. The City Council hopes that the Community of Madrid will consider them before authorising the expansions. Meanwhile, residents of Perales del Río and the rest of the metropolitan south remain on alert, fed up with enduring the odours and truck traffic generated by these facilities.