Manilva Town Hall has announced that it has been awarded the 2026 Escoba de Plata (Silver Broom), an accolade presented at the TECMA Fair held in Madrid, which recognises initiatives related to urban cleaning, waste management and environmental sustainability.
The award was collected by the mayor of Manilva, Mario Jiménez, together with councillor Juan Carlos Morejón, during the ceremony for these prizes, which are granted by the Asociación Técnica para la Gestión de Residuos y Medio Ambiente (ATEGRUS).
According to the Town Hall, the award highlights the comprehensive sustainable management model developed in the municipality, based on optimising cleaning services, modernising equipment, environmental awareness campaigns and collaboration with large waste producers, especially establishments in the hospitality sector.
Among the actions highlighted by the Town Hall are the introduction of separate collection of organic waste throughout the municipality, the improvement of selective collection systems, the promotion of public awareness campaigns and the adaptation of cleaning services to the rise in population that Manilva experiences during the tourist season.
The Cleaning department councillor, Gema Zotano, expressed her satisfaction at the award and wished to thank everyone involved in the service for their work, highlighting the efforts of the administrative staff, the managers of the contracted company and, in particular, the operatives who carry out their work every day on the streets of the municipality.
The Escoba de Plata is one of the awards that recognise projects related to urban cleaning and waste management, assessing aspects such as innovation, sustainability and the improvement of municipal services.
An award not without controversy
Although the Town Hall has presented the Escoba de Plata as recognition of the work carried out in cleaning and waste management, this type of award is not free from controversy.
The Premios Escobas, organised by the independent association ATEGRUS as part of the TECMA Fair in Madrid, require applicants to submit a candidacy in advance, accompanied by a registration fee. Various authorities and political representatives have pointed out in recent years that this fee is around 800 euros plus VAT, an amount that in many cases is paid by the companies holding the cleaning and waste collection contracts.
This very aspect has drawn criticism from various quarters, questioning whether the awards are given only to those who submit a candidacy and pay the corresponding fee. Indeed, some municipalities have gone as far as publicly stating that taking part in these awards did not cost the municipal coffers anything, as it was paid for by the company awarded the service contract. The existence of
The financial scale of the competition is also often a subject of debate. In the 2024 edition, ATEGRUS presented a total of 70 awards across the Silver, Gold and Platinum Escobas during TECMA in Madrid, which represents income of approximately 56,000€, given that members of the association receive a 10% discount and registration for the Gold or Platinum Escoba costs more. The list of localities that pay the corresponding registration fee but fail to meet the quality standards required to obtain this recognition is not known. To be eligible for the Gold Escoba, the Silver one must first have been won in previous editions. For the Platinum, both of the previous ones are required.
For the moment, Manilva Town Hall has not publicly stated who covered the costs of the application submitted for the 2026 Escoba de Plata, nor the amount spent on this process. Beyond the award, which undoubtedly constitutes a positive piece of institutional marketing, everyone’s main concern remains bringing that image of excellence to the day-to-day state of the municipality’s streets. To this end, many residents consider it essential to step up the monitoring and control of cleaning services so that the standard recognised by the award becomes a permanent and noticeable reality in all parts of the municipality, especially in the residential developments.
