The administrative landscape of southern Gran Canaria is beginning to take shape ahead of the expiration in 2027 of the major contract for street cleaning, waste collection, and beach maintenance. This service, a cornerstone of the operation of a top-tier European tourist destination like Maspalomas, faces a critical transition at the end of the current legislative term, governed by the AV-PP-CC coalition. The municipal administration is seeking to avoid tensions and improvisation in a process where technical precision is crucial for maintaining the quality standards demanded by the tourism industry.
The current joint venture (UTE), comprised of FCC—currently under Mexican ownership—along with the local firms Lopesan and Bitumex, will reach its twelve-year operating limit in 2027. This contract, formalized in 2016 after the tender specifications were prepared in 2013, represented a financial optimization at the time by unifying services that were previously performed separately, achieving a cost reduction of approximately €1,6 million annually compared to the €12,3 million cost of the previous model. The annual fee stipulated in that contract amounted to €10,7 million, totaling €129,5 million for the entire period.
The local business sector is already making moves for the new tender. Small firms in the area are forming engineering teams focused on establishing alliances with large European groups, attempting to break the hegemony of major external corporations. Distrust of foreign operators is evident in local circles. "Here, alliances with local companies should be given more weight. We're fed up with Scandinavians from Las Palmas or Spaniards from Madrid offering us empty promises, like during the Aztec conquest," says a businessman in the construction sector, underscoring a growing demand for protection of the regional production network.
The requirements of the upcoming technical specifications indicate a higher level of complexity than the previous tender. The new requirements must address the optimization of internal road closures, energy efficiency, fuel savings, and the integration of waste management with the Gran Canaria South Ecopark, where Prezero and Pérez Moreno operate. Prezero, the German operator, has a competitive advantage in the study phase, as it currently manages the data flow and daily reporting systems for the outgoing joint venture.
The fear of a legal blockage hangs over the process. In 2013, four major players—Urbaser, Ferrovial Servicios, Santana Cazorla, and Valoriza—competed against the winning bid. Any discrepancies in the award criteria, which will require a high level of expertise to avoid errors in the final evaluations, could lead to legal challenges that paralyze the contract for years, forcing the City Council to resort to continuous out-of-court debt recognitions to cover operating costs. Safeguarding employment and maintaining the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, even though it has expired, will once again be binding clauses in an award that will define urban sanitation in southern Gran Canaria well into the next decade.
