Zaragoza has taken another step to strengthen the fight against pests such as rats, pigeons or black flies with the award of a new contract that increases the budget, doubles the staff and incorporates more preventive measures and technological tools. The winning company has been Daymax S.L., which will assume a three-year contract, with the possibility of two extensions of one year each, for a final amount of 1,297,725 euros. The base budget of the tender has been 1,512,830 euros.
The new contract, promoted by the Area of Environment and Mobility through the Public Health Service, seeks to reduce the presence of urban pests to levels compatible with public health and the well-being of citizens. To achieve this, the service will combine a preventive strategy with corrective actions throughout the municipality, reinforcing surveillance against rodents, insects, black flies and pigeons.
The Minister of Environment and Mobility, Tatiana Gaudes, stressed that «this new contract, with a significant budget increase, represents a new municipal effort to improve public health and quality of life in Zaragoza, with more resources, more prevention and better control tools». Gaudes also appealed for citizen involvement: «The collaboration of all residents is essential to keep the city clean, with actions as simple as they are decisive such as not feeding animals on public roads or correctly depositing waste in containers. Only in this way will we be able to effectively limit the presence of pests such as rodents or pigeons.»
MORE PREVENTION AND DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF STAFF
The new service has not only increased its budget, which has gone from 300,000 euros per year to 500,000, but has also expanded its scope with a double aspect: preventive and corrective. In addition to responding to warnings and incidents, it will reinforce the planned programs to anticipate the appearance of pests, one of the main novelties of the contract. Among these actions is the sewer rat control program, which includes periodic preventive interventions, twice a year, in a network of more than 33,000 records. It also includes scheduled actions in parks, gardens and municipal buildings.
The contract also incorporates specific measures such as tick control in public parks, treatments against black flies in rivers and riverbeds and a structured program to control the pigeon population through controlled capture systems and technical monitoring.
In terms of resources, the service will have a stable team of nine full-time professionals, made up of a specialised technical manager and eight qualified applicators. This means doubling the staff compared to the previous contract. To this will be added a reinforcement of material resources with adapted and environmentally friendly vehicles, approved application equipment and advanced monitoring systems.
DIGITAL TRACKING AND FASTER RESPONSE
Another of the main novelties will be the incorporation of a real-time digital monitoring system that will allow all actions on the ground to be recorded through a municipal computer application. This tool, which will improve the current one, will facilitate the exhaustive control of the works, the verification of response times and the continuous analysis of the evolution of pests in the city.
The contract will also improve incident response times. Thus,a maximum response period of 24 hours is established in the face of citizen warnings, with the possibility of intervening on the same day in priority cases, such as school or health environments. In emergency situations, the action may be carried out within a maximum period of one hour.
From an environmental point of view, the new service will reinforce the use of more sustainable and safer methods, prioritising ecological solutions and progressively reducing the use of chemical products, always under technical and safety criteria. In addition, strict protocols are established for the use of biocides, with prior municipal control and monitoring of their efficacy and safety.
The increase in the budget responds to the increase in needs detected in recent years, especially in a context of climate change that favours the proliferation of certain pests. This financial reinforcement will make it possible to expand the resources available, improve planning and ensure greater effectiveness in interventions.
The scope of the contract will cover the entire city, including the sewerage network, parks and green areas, municipal plots, public buildings and river banks. It will also contemplate interventions in private spaces when there is a risk to public health, always under municipal supervision.
