“It’s a shame, we shouldn’t pay”

Early in the morning, nearly a dozen people showed up at this location, the only one where the procedure can be performed in the entire town. While some arrive with the receipt in hand, others point out that they have not even been notified yet. “At first I was surprised not to have received it when I saw that they had already been sent to Madrid,” says this resident of the city governed by socialist Sara Hernández. Now he hopes to get in and out of the bank office, to complete the process as quickly as possible and “forget about it.”

Last Thursday, the mayor, during a press conference, explained the chaos that this transport incident had generated. Although he emphasized during his speech that I didn’t want to “blame anyone”pointed out that the Post service “did not arrive in time to deliver” the first shipment – ​​during which 82,000 receipts were issued – resulting in the receipt of payment letters that expired on December 5.

Although Hernández stressed that it was a “small number” of people affected, throughout the week, in the morning and afternoon shifts, lines of dozens of people, upset by the situation, formed at the doors of the tax service of this town hall. “I don’t intend to wait an hour to do the procedure. “We shouldn’t pay,” says Manuel, who speaks to Isabel, who, out of ignorance, went directly to the town hall instead of the corresponding office. “I spent an hour and a half at the town hall and then they sent me here. “I can’t waste my time,” he criticizes.

The councilor insisted on the fact that the process of implementing the new rate represents an administrative effort “so important” and “so new” that it requires “the entire effort of municipal services”, a work which is carried out “with great care”. However, the work of the officials does not appease the anger of the neighbors, who regret being victims of an “error” which is not theirs and for which the reinforcements were not able to absorb the demand of the moment.

“It’s a shame to have to queue to pay. What is normal is that there is more service. Especially to serve the elderly, who don’t do well with these things. A 90-year-old man came yesterday with whom nothing was clarified, the computers broke down and he had to leave,” they say.

Too many registered

This is just another episode of the confusion generated by the garbage rate in this town. A few weeks ago, the PP of Getafe also reported other incidents in the receipts, according to which they were charging “more” to some neighbors due to an error in the register. “These failures can lead to an increase in revenue of more than 20 euros for each incorrect registration, a consequence of chaos in the municipality due to the obsolescence of the municipal register or incorrect dumping of data,” they noted.

From the Getafe City Hall they point out that taxes, fees and tributes are calculated with data from January of the same year, therefore “the imbalance may occur due to changes in registration after this date, changes requested by the residents themselves and then transferred by the INE”.

The neighborhood association of this Madrid city assures this newspaper that this problem has affected several people. “Families with children who moved and did not change their registration or former tenants who also did not update their situation and those registered were added to the new ones, leaving the rate higher,” they explain.

From this advice, they estimate that out of more than 82,000 notifications issued to date, there are 221 complaints regarding this error and that they have already been contacted to confirm that the error will be corrected automatically and that the corresponding part will be returned without having to take any action.

The popular parties have made available to residents a model appeal to claim these failures in collection, which is added to the generic appeal prepared by the opposition to appeal to this town hall for the application of the garbage tariff. So far, they have also collected 7,000 signatures against this tax.

These incidents are now fueling discontent with this pace and residents who come to this office take the opportunity to vent among themselves, criticize calculation methods that Mayor Sara Hernández applied, as well as the application of a tax that they consider “unfair”. “There are some who stop recycling,” they underline this newspaper.

However, the problem is not exclusive to Getafe. This rate, imposed by the central government and which results from a European directive, has been applied reluctantly by many municipalities in the region – with the exception of Leganés, which refused to collect it in 2025 – who criticize the fact that the bases of this tax have not been determined, leaving each municipal government to apply its own criteria. The disparity in the model that each municipal council has established has led to a chaotic situation for citizens, as well as long queues in front of municipal offices, avalanches of complaints to administrations and even complaints from victims of fake debt collectors.

The latter situation occurred in the Madrid municipality of Torrejón de Ardoz, where a local police system was put in place to ensure that older residents in the central area of ​​this municipality were not victims of scams by individuals posing as municipal employees in order to take advantage of this chaotic situation.

As this newspaper reports, both the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) and the Facua have received complaints from “municipalities of all colors”. Both organizations advocate that the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) establishes a common protocol for all municipalities and, secondly, that governments also make an effort. For example, to put more containers or to monitor the neighbor’s recycling activity.