Vélez-Málaga residents to protest against new rubbish tax

Scilla Tamburini is acting as spokesperson for a movement that has attracted residents from various neighbourhoods affected by the new bills, both in their homes and in their businesses.

The group describes itself as an "open, pluralistic, independent and peaceful" movement, with no links to any political party. "What unites us is not an acronym or an ideology. We are united by a problem affecting our citizens and the need to organise ourselves so that our voice can be heard,” its representatives said during the presentation.

The group places particular emphasis on the consequences of the new tax for self-employed people, professionals and businesses, as well as on possible double charging, discrepancies in the areas used to calculate certain bills and other issues raised by those affected.

One of its first areas of focus will be to help taxpayers navigate this process by providing information, offering tools for submitting claims, compiling specific cases and subsequently passing on these claims to the relevant authorities. It will also call for a "more proportionate" application of the tax on economic activities and measures to reduce its impact on households.

The group will join a protest planned for 8pm on Wednesday 7 October of Plaza de las Carmelitas against the new tax. The protest had previously been announced by the three opposition groups, Andalucía por Sí, the PSOE and Vox, after the full council meeting on 22 September rejected a motion to suspend the tax. The coalition governing parties, the PP and GIPMTM, voted against the suspension, while opposition parties supported it.

The protest comes after several months of tension over the new bill. At the end of August, protests by local residents and shopkeepers even led to the early suspension of a full council meeting. At the September council meeting more than fifty citizens once again attended the debate, although on this occasion the session was able to continue. The coalition ruling party maintains that a general suspension of bill collection is not warranted.

The town hall has established a procedure for reviewing possible errors and along with Malaga's provincial tax collection authority, it has agreed to analyse on a case-by-case basis the situations of self-employed workers, shopkeepers and professionals where there may be duplications, discrepancies in the square metres of premises or other issues. The tax authorities maintain that anyone who considers their tax assessment to be incorrect should lodge an appeal so that it can be reviewed.

The general obligation stems from State Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated land, Article 11 of which stipulates that local authorities must have a specific, differentiated and financially self-sufficient charge or service that reflects the actual cost of waste collection, transport and treatment. The Act sets out this general framework, whilst the specific details of the charges are subsequently determined by the by-laws of each local council.

In Vélez-Málaga, the estimates used for residential properties put the annual charges at between 101.86 and 135.54 euros, while for commercial activities, factors such as floor area, the nature of the business and the estimated volume of waste generated are taken into account. The town hall expects to raise around 7.2 million euros a year. The by-law also provides for reductions of up to 95 per cent for certain vulnerable households and 50 per cent for large families who meet the established criteria. These reductions amount to 126,000 euros, according to the opposition.

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