The San Lorenzo de El Escorial Town Hall is reinforcing street cleaning with new machinery and a rapid intervention team to tackle heatwaves, drought, and the aftermath of the July fire.
The San Lorenzo de El Escorial Town Hall has activated an emergency street cleaning plan to address the special conditions of this summer: successive heatwaves, prolonged absence of rain, a large influx of visitors, and the remnants of the fire recorded at the end of July.
Since the beginning of summer, cleaning services have already been working with a hydro-cleaning team that operates on sidewalks and pedestrian areas using high-pressure water and degreasing products. The aim is to eliminate grease stains, organic waste, and pet urine, especially in the most problematic areas.
In areas with a higher concentration of bars and restaurants, cleaning is coordinated with the establishments to choose the most suitable times, thus achieving greater efficiency. Additionally, this year the Town Hall brought forward the hose washing, originally planned for mid-July, to June to intensify the use of water and products during the hottest weeks.
One of the main innovations of the plan is the incorporation of a new mechanical street cleaning machine for roadways and pedestrian areas. This equipment will specifically address ashes and embers from the fire, grease stains, and urine that have become fixed on cobblestones, sidewalks, squares, and pedestrian spaces, a situation exacerbated by high temperatures and lack of rain. The machine will be permanently integrated into the cleaning service.
Another innovation is the acquisition of a versatile open-box sweeping unit for itinerant cleaning, aimed at improving the cleanliness of collection areas and the surroundings of containers. The goal is for the operation not to be limited to removing waste but also to include scrubbing and cleaning the space and the containers themselves, as well as corners of sidewalks and less accessible areas.
The new vehicle has a compartmentalized space with a hydro-cleaning unit and water tank, as well as a compartment for tools such as brush cutters, brooms, shovels, or absorbent materials. It also features a lifting ramp for removing bulky waste, such as pruning bags, mattresses, or appliances.
During July, August, and September, this vehicle will also have an additional operator to respond more promptly to citizen reports, incidents communicated through the Green Line, and other unforeseen situations. This will prevent scheduled work teams from having to abandon their routes to address emergencies, which is especially important in summer when San Lorenzo sees a significant increase in population and visitors.
In recent weeks, a high-pressure scrubbing plate has also been added, especially on the sidewalks of the historic centre. This system allows for a deeper cleaning of pavements and is yielding good results in the areas most affected by stains and adhered dirt. Its use will now be intensified as hose washing has already covered a greater number of streets.
The extraordinary device plans to reinforce mechanical scrubbing of roadways and pedestrian areas and manual scrubbing of sidewalks over the coming weeks, with special attention to the urban area and nearby neighbourhoods. These efforts are complemented by the truck-mounted sweeper introduced in March, which has particularly enhanced cleaning in urbanizations and the Abantos area, thanks to its greater load capacity and speed of movement.
Residents can continue to report incidents through the Green Line, the channel set up by the Town Hall for cleaning alerts and other urban services.
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