Marbella awards a contract worth 5.47 million euros for the cleaning and maintenance of Puerto Banús

The local cleaning company came out on top against the other five companies competing for the tender launched by the town hall. It has done so with a bid that is 25,000 euros below the tender budget (5 million plus VAT) for this four-year contract (extendable for a further year), meaning that the annual cost to the council’s coffers will be, including tax, just under 1.37 million euros every twelve months.

The Marbella-based company that has been awarded the tender has committed to establishing an operational base with an on-call team, staffed with sufficient personnel and equipment, within 20 kilometres of the centre of Puerto Banús. It has also undertaken to install 50 additional litter bins on top of the 100 new high-capacity bins required under the tender specifications, and to invest 15,000 euros in training and public awareness campaigns.

The contract includes mechanical and manual washing of pavements, daily high-pressure washing using a boiler and pressurised water, daily mechanical sweeping and leaf blowing, the removal of brushwood and plant waste and the maintenance and cleaning of street furniture.

Both comprehensive maintenance of pavements and road surfaces and street sweeping will vary depending on the time of year, and three seasons have been established for this purpose: ‘high’, covering the months of May, June and September; ‘very high’ for Christmas, Easter, July and August; and ‘low’ for the rest of the year. Thus, during this latter period, street washing and high-pressure cleaning will cover 1,800 and 1,400 square metres; in the high season these will rise to 3,600 and 2,800 square metres, and in the ‘very high’ season they will stand at 5,400 and 4,200. As for street sweeping, there will be one sweep per day during the low season and two per day for the rest of the year, whilst litter bins will be emptied once, twice or three times a day depending on the time of year.

This phased approach will affect the number of staff providing the service. There will be nine during the low season, 15 in May, June and September, and the number will rise to 19 at Christmas, Easter, and in July and August. Throughout the year, the successful company must have an operational cleaning team on standby per shift to "deal with incidents or provide immediate reinforcements", particularly during the high season for street sweeping and hosing-down tasks.

The project area extends as far as the marina concession and the beaches of Puerto Banús, but only includes the marina promenade and its paved areas. To the north and east, the boundaries are marked by the A-7 motorway and the river Verde respectively, whilst to the west the boundary is Avenida Lola Flores (including its entire length up to the roundabout linking with the N-340 and the adjacent internal roads).

The service covers all public spaces, pavements, roundabouts, central reservations, pedestrian access points, parking areas and internal roads situated within these boundaries.