The Benidorm City Council’s Department of Parks and Gardens is employing a variety of biological techniques to manage insect pests that threaten a considerable portion of the municipality’s trees, as well as the plants and shrubs in the gardens, each year. The coming of spring and the approaching summer are the most favourable seasons of year for pest development in trees and gardens, as warm and humid climatic conditions promote their reproduction and activity.

To reduce the impact of these pests on the municipal green heritage, the City Council uses “biological control,” which involves the use of living organisms, such as “useful fauna, predators, parasites, or pathogens that are used to eliminate pest populations that affect ornamental plants, whether trees or shrubs,” according to José Ramón González de Zárate, Councillor for Parks and Gardens. Using this method, the city stays a “phosphate pesticide-free zone,” according to the councillor.

Beneficial insects are released from abundantly planted streets and highways, including Secretaría Juan Antonio Baldoví, Alcalde Vicente Pérez Devesa, Francia, and flowerbed regions. These trees include jacarandas, tipuanas, ficus trees, rosebushes, and cypress.

This technique has also been used in the parks of Sèquia Mare, Rincón de Loix, La Cala urban park, and the remainder of the rose gardens. González de Zárate mentioned the employment of insects like ladybirds to manage aphids, parasitic wasps (parasitic) that lay their eggs within caterpillars, and fungi and bacteria that infect dangerous insects. “These techniques offer only advantages because they do not contaminate the environment at all, and you can almost say that for every pest there is an insect, without affecting other species, since each predator has its preference,” according to the councillor.

The employment of these beneficial insects has long-term effects, beginning with the organism’s establishment in each garden and on each plant type. In Benidorm, aphids frequently colonise jacaranda and tipuana trees, while thrips prefer ficus. “We use this beneficial fauna to keep the most harmful insects at bay,” the councillor explained.

The City Council uses various types of insects depending on the specific specimens and species it aims to conserve. Lacewings attack aphids, caterpillars, thrips, scale insects, and other soft-bodied insects; coccinellids consume mites and scale insects; phitoseid mites combat red spider mites; and the aforementioned parasitoid wasps consume whiteflies and aphids.

According to González de Zárate, utilising these tactics has apparent benefits because it “reduces the use of chemical insecticides on trees and flowerbeds, thus protecting pollinators.” It also increases the sustainability of decorative crops and, most importantly, protects citizens’ health by avoiding exposing them to any toxins.

Elche City Council, through its Department of Commerce, has announced the latest edition of the “Elche Street Food Market,” which will be held on Paseo de la Estación from Friday May 23rd to Sunday May 25th.

Caridad Martínez, a local councillor, welcomed Elche residents to enjoy the event, which would include a variety of culinary offerings and entertainment for adults and families alike.

This tenth edition will include 14 food trucks serving national and foreign cuisine, a market with thirty craft, fashion, and design shops, and seven performances over the weekend by bands including Guanará, a Mecano tribute band, Hermano Salvaje, and others. In addition to live food and music, there will be storytelling, comedy shows, and children’s concerts, among other things.

Rafael Baeza, the event’s organiser, stated, “This year we’re going around the world for a gastronomic tour, with typical dishes from different countries that we’ll be able to enjoy over the course of three days.”

Admission is free and the hours of operation will be Friday, May 23rd from 6pm to midnight, Saturday, May 24th from 12pm to midnight, and Sunday, May 25th from 12pm to 11pm.

The Orihuela City Council’s Department of Urban Solid Waste will begin distributing 758 new containers throughout the municipality in June, with the goal of increasing containerisation and encouraging selective garbage collection. This project has been awarded a total of €690,000 (including VAT).

Rocio Ortuño, Councillor for Urban Solid Waste, stated that the renovation aligns with state legislation and the Local Waste Plan, and is a significant step towards a more efficient, clean, and recycling-friendly model.

The new containers are available in both side and top loading configurations. Specifically, the delivery comprises:

Rotourban model (side loading)

-80 units for containers (yellow fixed lid)

-140 units for paper-cardboard (blue fixed lid)

-326 units for the remaining fraction (contactless lid, grey)

Rotoglobe Model (Top Loading)

-80 units for packaging

-132 units for paper-cardboard

All containers will be customised with vinyl specifying the proportion in Spanish and a heat-printed City Hall symbol. With this project, the municipality will install 432 additional recycling containers (containers, paper, and cardboard) and 326 for other fractions, thereby improving selective collection at the source and environmental compliance.

Ortuño observed that “the new 2022 Waste Law, approved by the government, has not only forced local councils to modify and increase their waste tax, but also imposes a new tax of 30 euros per tonne of waste, which in the case of Orihuela represents an annual cost of nearly one million euros.”

The councillor stated that another batch of rear-loading containers will be awarded in the coming days at a tender value of €110,000. This batch includes 877 units, which will begin arriving in late June or early July, concluding the municipality’s container fleet renewal operation.