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A BRITISH family has voiced outrage after torrential rain repeatedly caused sewage to spill outside their Marbella home — despite shelling out nearly €10,000 for plumbing work intended to prevent such incidents.
San Pedro de Alcantara expats say that the problem persists despite little action by the town hall. They are concerned about the public health and infrastructure of the area.
During heavy rains, the sewage from each home in the street is forced through the pipes to a manhole located outside the property of the family.
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The pavement is littered with toilet paper, human wastes and sanitary goods.
Ashlie Walker and her partner had ‘renovated the whole plumbing system inside’ their home in February and were told the existing manhole would no longer be usable, with no one ‘saying or knowing where it led to’.
Hidralia is a Spanish company that provides water. They informed them of their need for a manhole, which they would install. Hidralia would do the work on the outside, while the family plumber installed the system inside.
Paying €9,221 for this new system, the expats thought they were solving any potential problems – that was until they returned home one day to find sewage covering the pavement outside their front door.
The street cleaners who had not been on the streets until heavy rain began, now appear every morning to clean the sewage.
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They clean ‘at about 6.30am or 7am before anyone gets up,’ Walker says.
This cleaning is only temporary because the sewage will reappear every time it rains.
Yesterday, when the street cleaners arrived, numerous residents ‘came out and complained to them and they said they always tell their boss about it but they keep just having to come out and clean it’.
These employees are not the only ones who have complained; one of Walker’s neighbours has complained ‘more than once’ to a number given to her by a friend in the police.
The council are aware that this is an ‘ongoing problem’ and beyond her concern about the hazardous waste outside her front door, Walker worries about the social consequences.
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Walker and her partner moved from Leeds to Spain 20 years ago. The couple has two children, aged 10 and 11 born in Spain.
The children ‘attend the local Spanish school’ and the family has become ‘really integrated into the Spanish culture and lifestyle’.
When they moved onto this new street they were pleased to find ‘lovely’ neighbours, most of whom have lived on the road since they were born.
Now the family ‘feels neighbours are getting frustrated with the situation’.
Walker said, “We don’t want this to create friction between us and the other side.”
Click here for more Spain News by The Olive Press.
