Els Hostalets de Pierola (Anoia) has little more than 3,000 inhabitants. However, it has services worthy of a town much larger than it is. Your neighbors enjoy a music schoola public daycare at affordable prices, a line of intercity bus which connects the municipality with the urbanizations and nearby towns and is now working on the construction of a new sports center. In addition, the Els Hostalets entities receive subsidies unusual in a small town hall.
The town has a public kindergarten, music school and a bus service inappropriate for a municipality of 3,000 inhabitants.
How is this anomaly explained? Gerard Parcerisasthe mayor, has no qualms about acknowledging the reason: “Some services are oversized thanks to the money we receive in exchange for hosting the largest controlled landfill in Catalonia and the second from Spain, the Can Mata deposit“Can Mata, managed by the company PreZero, accumulates in its depths the garbage that cannot be recycled or reused from all over the world. Barcelona metropolitan area and other places in Catalonia.
The inhabitants of Masquefa, a neighboring town, report that they live with the inconveniences without any advantages
The panoramic view of Els Hostalets de Pierola, if you ignore the landfill, is idyllic. The Montserrat mountain It is the backdrop of this small, relatively rural town, with some vineyards, which is located less than three-quarters of an hour from Barcelona. From Can Mata, you can also contemplate the magical mountain range, although the beautiful views are accompanied by a garbage smell intense and the incessant flight of hundreds of flies. The 78 hectares of landfill look like a kind of artificial hillsince its slopes are uniform, covered with brown earth.
The depot was born in the 70s, and today, the town hall and the Waste Agency of Catalonia they tackle a new extension, which if it progresses, will be in the direction of Els Hostalets. That is, the urban center will be even closer to this garbage cemetery. “Can Mata is a state structurebut it is an effort that the residents of Els Hostalets de Pierola make,” admits Parcerisas.
The majority of neighbors consulted by this newspaper do not directly oppose the deposit. They are aware that half of the municipal budget is based on this mountain of waste. However, they do recognize that it often reaches them at home. the smell of dirt. In fact, in the last referendum held in the town, in 2021, 58% of citizens voted in favor of expanding Can Mata. The mayor understands that there is discrepancies.
Half of the municipal budget of Els Hostalets is supported by this mountain of waste
The Tanquem Can Mata platform has already presented 300 allegations to the expansion project. Curiously, the neighboring municipalities, Masquefa and Pieragoverned by mayors from Esquerra Republicana (the one from Els Hostalets is from the same party), oppose these plans to expand the landfill, since they do not obtain the economic profits that Els Hostalets takes.
The frog and the bowl
Juanje Acevedospokesperson for the association, calls on residents not to normalize the situation: “I think of the fable of the frog and the bowl of water. When the little frog jumps into boiling water, it burns and immediately jumps to save itself. Another day, he jumps into the water and finds it cold. What he doesn’t know is that there is fire underneath and that it will heat up little by little. He doesn’t realize it until he dies. The same thing happens to the residents of the area. He landfill has been growing without us realizing it. “It has nothing to do with what was projected in 1970.”
According to your point of view, no town would accept now that they will build on their land the largest landfill in Catalonia. “The problem is that here some do not want to give up certain services to which they have become accustomed,” he considers.
The main drawback of living next to Can Mata is the smell. “Sometimes you wake up at four in the morning because of the discomfort and even if you close the windows, the smell has already entered the room,” he describes. “There is a lot of talk about the services available in Els Hostalets, but in the town all the waste from the metropolitan area accumulates. Are we only the Barcelona Metropolitan Area for waste? When it comes to paying for public transport areas, no, right?” he asks.
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Acevedo warns that if the expansion is completed, the rejection in the town will increase: “There are more and more neighbors who contact us because they do not see it clearly. When people go out to the park to play with their children and see the trucks throwing garbage, things will change.” In addition to the smell, they present another argument: “We believe that waste should be deposited near the place where it is generated, something that does not happen in Els Hostalets. Here we receive waste from Barcelona and everywhere. The landfills are closing and one day only ours will be left to house all the garbage in Catalonia.”
In the region, surprisingly, there is also the other large deposit in Catalonia, in this case for hazardous waste, in Castellolí. This landfill stores all the asbestos retired in Catalonia and is also negotiating an extension. From Tanquem Can Mata they criticize that garbage is being left in a pre-closed area because the expansion has not yet been carried out and there is a lack of space. Their goal is to live among the fields and towns of Anoia, but with the landfill closed. On the other hand, the mayor and dozens of neighbors defend the expansion so that Els Hostalets continues to enjoy the services it has.