Drawn to its sun, sea and sites, Spain attracts millions of visitors yearly, charming them with all the country’s natural and man-made marvels.
While Britain has its share of messy public places, some of Spain’s more than 8,000 cities also struggle with grimy streets and litter-strewn alleys.
In 2023, the Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU) surveyed nearly 7,000 locals across 59 cities to gauge public perceptions of how clean Spanish municipalities were.
The results did not reveal which cities are believed to be the cleanest and highlighted the dirtiest.
Palma de Mallorca was identified in the survey as the dirtiest city in Spain, scoring just 35 points out of a possible 100.
The city received the lowest score in the OCU survey, with complaints ranging from rubbish on public roads to a lack of effective maintenance.
Palma is a popular holiday hotspot thanks to its beautiful beaches and history, but locals viewed its cleanliness as being quite different to the idyllic image tourists might have.
The fear was that the grime would not only affect locals but also damage the city’s reputation with travllers.
Palma risks losing competitiveness against other Spanish destinations, which have had more success in keeping their streets clean and tidy.
According to the OCU report, it is not necessarily an economic investment that improves public perceptions of cleanliness, but rather the frequency and quality of upkeeping.
Cities with more frequent cleaning regimes, with street sweeping and washing, tended to receive higher ratings from locals.
OCU’s list shows Asturias as rated highest by citizens with a score of 83 out of 100 points. It is followed by Bilbao in the Basque Country (77) and Vigo, Galicia, (76).
Pamplona scored 71 points, sharing the same score with Albacete in Castilla-La Mancha.
Getxo, which is also in the Basque Country, scored 69, while Soria, in Castilla y León, received 68, according to the OCU report cited by El Español.
According to the survey, Palma da Mallorca was joined at the bottom of the scale by Alicante (37), Seville (38), and San Sebastian de los Reyes (39).
