Cantabria assumes waste collection in Las Rozas de Valdearroyo

The agreement published in the BOC of 18 August

The Official Gazette of Cantabria number 158, corresponding to Tuesday, 18 August 2026, has published the resolution with reference CVE-2026-6526 formalising an agreement between the Administration of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria and the Las Rozas de Valdearroyo City Council. The document, issued by the Regional Ministry of Public Works, Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, was electronically signed in Santander and received authorisation from the Government Council of Cantabria on 12 February 2026. The resolution was signed by Ana Belén Ruiz San Millán, Secretary General of the aforementioned regional ministry, on 12 August 2026.

A municipality without the means to manage its waste

The agreement responds to the inability of the Las Rozas de Valdearroyo City Council to provide the municipal solid waste collection and transport service on its own. Within the framework of Law 8/1993, of 18 November, on the Municipal Solid Waste Management Plan of Cantabria, Article 6.2 obliges the Government of Cantabria to provide support to local entities that request it and are unable to take charge of these services. The mayor of the municipality, Francisco Raúl Calderón Macías, obtained plenary authorisation on 28 November 2025 to sign this agreement. For his part, the regional minister Roberto Media Sainz represents the regional administration.

The agreement is also framed within Law 7/2022, of 8 April, on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy, which assigns municipalities the collection service as a mandatory service throughout their entire territorial scope. Local legislation provides that the Provincial Council — and in the case of Cantabria, the Autonomous Community, which assumed these powers under Article 32 of the Statute of Autonomy — shall take on the provision of treatment services in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants when they are unable to do so themselves.

What services the agreement includes

The provision of the service is carried out by the public company Medio Ambiente, Agua, Residuos y Energía de Cantabria S.A., M.P. (MARE), attached to the competent regional ministry. The “low-level collection” services cover collection and transport activities to transfer plants or directly to final management plants. According to Annex I of the agreement, Las Rozas de Valdearroyo adheres to the following services:

• Collection of the residual waste fraction and its transport.
• Separate collection of light packaging waste and paper/cardboard.
• Separate collection of bulky waste.
• Home composting (available for municipalities with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants).
• Separate collection of textile waste.
• Separate collection of used cooking oil.

The parties also undertake to disseminate explanatory brochures and to organise workshops and seminars on waste management mechanisms.

Economic regime and duration of the agreement

The City Council shall pay the public prices set by the Government of Cantabria in accordance with Decree 86/2013, of 26 December, as updated by Order FOM/16/2025, of 5 August. According to Annex I, the estimated costs of the service include:

• Collection of the remaining fraction: 3,237 empties at €5.1469/empty, with a total cost of €18,326.57 (VAT included).
• Collection of light packaging and paper/cardboard: 45 empties, with a VAT cost of €24.70.
• Collection of bulky waste: 73 services, with a VAT cost of €464.71.

The initial duration of the agreement is 4 years, with the possibility of unilateral extension for up to 4 additional years. A Monitoring Committee is established, made up of three representatives from the Government of Cantabria and three from the city council, to resolve discrepancies and monitor compliance with the agreement.

A model of inter-administrative cooperation

This agreement joins the one signed on 27 March 2025 between the Administration of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria and the Federation of Municipalities of Cantabria, which established the general mechanisms for collaboration in the provision of waste services in the territory. The agreement with Las Rozas de Valdearroyo is a concrete application of those mechanisms, designed to ensure that the smallest municipalities are not left unprotected in environmental management. The parties may modify the agreement by means of an addendum when it is affected by regulatory changes or when it is necessary to expand its purpose. In the event of unilateral withdrawal, the municipality would have a period of six months if MARE provides the service with its own resources.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, No. 158, 18 August 2026, section 7.5 Miscellaneous, p. 37941 (official reference: CVE-2026-6526).