The Minister of Territorial Policy of the Government of the Canary Islands, Manuel Miranda, explained this Thursday in a parliamentary commission that 22 illegal landfills are pending sealing, and added that the forecast is to conclude this project in 2027.
Miranda, who appeared at the request of the Nationalist group to talk about the program for sealing illegal landfills subject to sanctioning proceedings by the European Commission, clarified that his department is competent in matters relating to inert waste landfills, those known as rubble dumps.
The European Union has opened files to Spain for waste dumping, as well as for the situation of environmental complexes that do not meet the conditions, in addition to the management of dumping in illegal landfills, and those of inert waste.
Specifically, the European Commission opened a sanctioning file against Spain for 195 illegal landfills, of which 47 were located in the Canary Islands, and the Minister recalled that these are files, so sanctions have not yet been carried out.
Manuel Miranda stressed that work has been done on this issue since 2015, so he does not know how much has been spent on sealing illegal landfills, although the current executive has allocated about 5 million euros to these tasks.
The Minister stated that the Environmental Protection Agency has a plan to seal them all, something that must be done in a total of 22 places of this type, and the intention is to conclude the sealing of all before the end of 2027.
The current Government of the Canary Islands has invested about five million euros for the sealing of eight illegal landfills and there are advanced projects for 2026, so that by 2027 there would be about seven left, the Minister indicated.
The Minister acknowledged that work must be done to raise citizen awareness to avoid dumping in ravines, although he considered that progress has been made.
Manuel Miranda also indicated that the waste that is dumped in the rubble dumps, in theory, can be recycled. The deputy of the Nationalist group (CC) Natalia del Carmen Évora recalled that this is a social and health problem, and added that the proliferation of illegal landfills damages both biodiversity and health.
