Cantabria assumes waste collection for Suances and Cayón

The Official Gazette of Cantabria (BOC no. 163, of August 25, 2026) has published two resolutions from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Development, Housing, Territorial Planning and Environment providing for the publication of the agreements signed between the Administration of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria and the municipalities of Suances and Santa María de Cayón for the provision of municipal waste collection and transport services. Both agreements, signed by Minister Roberto Media Sainz, enter into force upon their publication in the gazette.

The agreements are framed within Law 8/1993, of November 18, on the Urban Waste Management Plan of Cantabria, which declares the management of urban waste as a public service under regional ownership, and Law 7/1985, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, which assigns waste collection to municipalities as a mandatory service. As both city councils lack the necessary means to properly provide the service, they request the collaboration of the regional Government, which will execute it through the public company Medio Ambiente, Agua, Residuos y Energía de Cantabria, S.A., M.P. (MARE).

Object and scope of the agreements

The object of both agreements is to regulate the conditions for the provision of the public service of collection and transport of municipal waste for each city council, in what is known as “low-level collection,” that is, the collection and transport to transfer plants or final management plants. The services included are:

• Collection of the residual fraction and bulky waste and their transport to the plant.
• Collection of bio-waste, domestic composting, and separate curbside collection.
• Separate collection of packaging and cardboard, including door-to-door collection of commercial cardboard.
• Separate collection of textile waste, agricultural plastics, and used vegetable oils.

The list is illustrative and not exhaustive, and new services may be incorporated by mutual agreement of the parties.

Commitments and economic regime

The Autonomous Community assumes the provision of the services according to the technical and quality criteria set out in the annexes of each agreement, and will include awareness and communication campaigns through MARE. For its part, each city council commits to making suitable spaces available to the Government, collaborating in the maintenance of the means, reporting incidents, and paying the applicable public prices.

As consideration, the local entity will pay the public price fixed by the Government of Cantabria, applying Decree 86/2013, of December 26, which sets the public prices for the domestic waste collection and transport service.

Validity and termination

Each agreement shall have an initial duration of 4 years, extendable by unanimous agreement for a maximum of 4 additional years, and must be registered in the Regional Electronic Registry of Agreements within fifteen days of its signing. Causes for termination include the expiration of the term without extension, the unanimous agreement of the signatories, or the breach of the assumed obligations.

In the case of Suances, the agreement was authorized by a Government Council agreement of February 19, 2026, and signed by Mayor Andrés Ruiz Moya; in the case of Santa María de Cayón, the authorization dates from the Government Council of February 12, 2026, and the signature corresponded to Mayor Francisco Javier Viar Fernández. Both resolutions were issued by the Secretary General Ana Belén Ruiz San Millán on August 18 and 19, 2026, respectively.

The publication of these agreements reinforces cooperation between the regional Administration and the municipalities in an essential service for residents, guaranteeing the collection and treatment of waste in localities that do not have their own means to provide it, in line with the objectives of circular economy and sustainable urban waste management in Cantabria.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 163, August 25, 2026, section 7.5 Miscellaneous, pgs. 39711 and 40007 (official references: CVE-2026-6641 and CVE-2026-6652).