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Seville's Ayuntamiento is under scrutiny from the Environmental Prosecutor's Office over an illegal landfill on its own land in the Palmete neighbourhood. The site, which borders plots in Alcalá de Guadaíra, risks contaminating groundwater and harming the Guadaíra River as well as the Guadalquivir's alluvial plain.

 

This investigation started with a May 2025 complaint from the Guardia Civil's Seprona nature protection service. They uncovered what they called "the existence of a very large and long-standing landfill." Prosecutors have asked the Ayuntamiento to name those running its environmental department from November 2020 to November 2025.

 

The dump spans several plots totalling 64.36 hectares. Agents noted uncontrolled dumping of both hazardous and non-hazardous waste by trucks, often followed by burning. Back in January 2022, environmental officers estimated the waste volume at 300,000 cubic metres, with no cleanup since 2020. Recent checks by the Guadalquivir River Basin Authority in November confirmed the pile had grown since an April inspection that year.

 

The site sits in the Guadalquivir's influence zone, prompting prosecutors to seek an expert report from the Geological and Mining Institute on risks to two aquifers and the river from "the deposit of existing waste."

 

The Andalucía Environment Department had already fined the Ayuntamiento. They issued a 55,000 euro penalty for a very serious infraction over the unauthorised landfill, which they said had operated "for years" without legal compliance and posed dangers to health and the environment. A separate case for failing to keep the riverbed clean ended with a 1,400 euro sanction.

 

Before these legal steps, the department had launched proceedings urging the Ayuntamiento to "adopt the necessary measures to prevent spills." An November inspection by the basin authority only underlined the ongoing problem.

 

The investigation continues as authorities work to pinpoint responsibility and assess the full environmental toll.