In an article published on June 18th in the Diari de Tarragona, the mayor of Pratdip, Sílvia Carrillo, justified her inaction in Planas del Rey by explaining that the urbanisation has never been officially handed over to the municipality. However, she added that in case of an emergency, the town hall is obliged to intervene.
But then, what exactly qualifies as an emergency for the municipality of Pratdip?
For weeks now, residents of Magnolia Street have been denouncing a particularly worrying situation: a sewage pipe is broken in two places, causing dirty water to continuously spill onto the street. This leak has been witnessed by residents, photographed, and reported several times.
On May 19th, the mayor personally came to inspect the site. She saw with her own eyes the appalling state of the infrastructure and the presence of untreated sewage in the street.
Since then, no concrete measures have been taken.
The leak continues. Contaminated water keeps flowing through the street, with all the health risks that implies.
Public health and municipal inaction
It is worth remembering that allowing sewage to spill onto public roads constitutes a serious threat to public health, as recognised by legislation. The presence of pathogens, bacteria and viruses in this water exposes residents directly to significant health risks.
The town hall’s position, hiding behind the lack of official reception of the urbanisation to justify its inaction, is therefore hard to defend.
Especially when the same town hall publicly acknowledges that in an emergency it is obliged to intervene.
So, do we really have to wait for a contamination, an accident, or worse still, a human tragedy for this situation to finally be considered a genuine emergency by the authorities?
The residents of Planas are entitled to expect more than words: they demand action.
SOS Planas
