Environmental protection in Spain

Kenjee, You have raised an interesting subject and  I will answer your points one by one.

Yes, by certain bodies, but not by the population as a whole. Witness the rubbish on every square meter of land and the fact they put plastic bottle in with glass and vice versa; are unable to work out how to crush a cardboard box to get it in the container, which is badly designed, and the fact the paper bin contains all manner of materials.

Waste management initiatives are about money generation, which is fine if the population understands it has a part to play. They don't. It's a life style decision to live among the rubbish - despite the very middle-class adverts.

We recycle everything. All organic waste and paper goes to make compost. Everything else goes in the appropriate bin once a week. It's no big chore to do it but you have to think about it. Therein lies the rub. The Spanish seem to be incapable of planning.

If there are local incentives in Roquetas de Mar such as recycling car batteries, bedding, etc., it is not known to me. In reality environmental issues are not things that touch many Spanish people. The younger, more intelligent, Spanish are interested but they are not a significant part of the population. The rest just throw their cigarette ends, packets of all kinds and  MacDonalds' cups in the street as they walk. That sort of thinking is not going to be changed any time soon.

As with everywhere including the UK, there are those who take recycling and the environment seriously and those who don't give tuppence.  There are regularly emptied waste bins and colour coded recycling bins everywhere and less than a 5 minute drive away there is a big depot accepting bulkier items such as building and garden waste, machinery, furniture etc.  The local council also provide a  regular free pick-up service. When we first moved here we had a mountain of stuff to get rid of.  We were told to pile it up outside the door and it would be collected early in the morning.  It was quite a mountain and some of our neighbours took some odds and ends, politely asking if it was OK,  and by the time I checked at 7.30 the next morning, everything was gone.  So the facilities are all there but just like the UK, there are those who just can't be arsed and dump their garbage in the hedgerows.  However, if I compare street litter in Alaior with litter in Wells where we used to live, Alaior is miles cleaner.  A very advanced sweeping machine tours the main roads every day and at this time of the year workers are out strimming the verges all over town.
I would give Alaior 9 out of 10 for its concern for the local environment.

Writerman is spot on. The recycling infrastructure is simply not up to it and the Spanish mindset is "Who gives a sh1t"? When people encourage their dogs to squat on the PAVEMENT (I've seen it at least 3 times recently), it says plenty about their attitude to filth. I am not slagging off the Spanish people here. Far from it. But they need to see that some things are just ......wrong!
Personally, I would like to see more recycling sites/bins and hefty on the spot fines (God knows their councils could use the money) for people leaving their dog poo for someone else to tread in.
I am also puzzled by the lack of solar heaters in (on) homes. Travel to Greece or Cyprus, and they're everywhere! I gather there was an initiative in Spain some years ago, but it was allowed to just fizzle out. Why don't they re-start it?? It would cut down emissions, save water (power station turbines use a LOT), generate business and people could slash their often bonkers electricity bills!
Spain is sitting on so much potential but seems clueless as to how to use it.

TenerifeDiver makes a couple of good points.  There are already substantial fines for not picking up dog poo but the pavements remain a minefield.  However, the UK has been into domestic dog ownership for far more years than the Spanish and it took us a while to get into the disciplne of clearing up after our dogs.  You are right about solar panels;  you would expect to see more but I am not sure if there are any initiatives now.  There's a terrible amount of unemployment here and I know from my own experience how expensive it is to install solar.  I have a caseta that has no electricity but the cost of a relatively modest solar installation is way over our budget so we still use candles when we stay there in the summer.