The Marbella City Council has received the Platinum Broom from Ategrus for the fourth time, an award costing 1,100 euros plus VAT, which residents doubt due to the lack of cleanliness in the streets.
The Marbella City Council has once again boasted about its recognition in urban cleanliness. The Technical Association for Waste Management, Urban Cleaning and the Environment (Ategrus) has awarded the municipality the Platinum Broom, the highest accolade it grants. This is the fourth time it has achieved this, following the years 2022, 2024, and now 2026. But not everything is as it seems.
A paid award
To obtain the Platinum Broom, the City Council must submit an application and pay a fee of 1,100 euros plus VAT. This is not an independent external audit, but rather a competition to which institutions voluntarily apply. The local government, led by mayor Ángeles Muñoz, has opted for this system since 2018, when it achieved the Golden Broom.
The argument that has earned the award this year is "the transformation of waste management and urban cleaning into an operational system based on data, traceability, and real-time operation." According to the City Council, "the system learns from the actual operation and continuously improves its own recommendations." The theory sounds good, but the reality that Marbella residents experience is very different.
Residents and tourists fed up with dirt
Those walking through the streets of Marbella often encounter overfilled rubbish bins, both above ground and underground. It is common to see bags and waste piled outside the bins, waiting for the collection truck to pass. Residents have been complaining for years, and tourists do not hold back: "Marbella is getting dirtier every year," is frequently heard.
The City Council has responded by placing more signs that threaten fines for those who dispose of rubbish outside the bins. A measure that, far from solving the problem, has generated more discontent among citizens, who believe that the real issue is the lack of frequency in collection and insufficient resources.
The municipal opposition has harshly criticized the decision to continue investing in these awards. "Instead of solving the cleaning problem, the PP government team continues to opt for propaganda with awards that resolve nothing," opposition sources state. For critics, the fee money could be used to improve the actual street cleaning service.
A large club of awardees
Marbella is not alone on the list of awardees. This year, the Platinum Broom will also be awarded to other municipalities such as Fuengirola, Mijas, Torrox, Vélez-Málaga (all in the province of Málaga), as well as Almuñécar, Arroyomolinos, El Campello, Guernica, Llanes, Monforte de Lemos, Alcalá de Guadaira, Alcobendas, Ávila, Guadalajara, Parla, Lugo, Elche, Fuenlabrada, Granada, Burgos, Valladolid, and Vitoria, among others. In total, 120 awards have been given in various categories.
The recognitions were awarded on June 11, although the Marbella City Council has not informed until today. A delay that has drawn attention, as other councils had already communicated it days earlier. The news has reached residents almost by accident, and reactions on social media have been swift: "What a joke, they pay for an award while the streets are a mess," writes a user on X.
Looking ahead, the City Council assures that it will continue to work on improving the service, but for now, the contrast between the award and everyday reality remains the topic of conversation in the terraces and markets of Marbella. For citizens, what matters is not the award, but that the bins do not overflow and the sidewalks are clean. And in the meantime, the mayor can start preparing the application for 2027.
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