The City Council of Badia del Vallès has completed the awarding of the first phase of asbestos removal in 127 buildings. The last contract, which affects 25 blocks, has been awarded to UTE Deltapunt for over one million euros.
Badia del Vallès has taken a decisive step to rid itself of asbestos. The Local Government Board approved this week the awarding of the last pending contract of the first phase, which will allow intervention in 25 more buildings. With this batch, all 127 blocks planned in the first stage of the municipality's largest urban transformation are now covered.
The works for batch 2 have been commissioned to UTE Deltapunt for an amount exceeding one million euros. This contract adds to the two batches awarded last June, when the City Council commissioned the temporary unions of companies Vilà Vilà-Urban Complet and AGD Magma to remove asbestos-containing elements in 102 blocks.
Badia del Vallès is a unique case in Spain: it was built entirely with fibrocement, a material that contains asbestos and was used extensively in construction during the 20th century. If it manages to completely eliminate this compound, it would become the first city in Europe to be entirely asbestos-free.
The next administrative step is the approval of the work plans, which must be validated by the Labour Authority. These documents detail the method of material removal and the safety measures that the contracted companies will implement. Business sources consulted indicate that the first works could begin at the end of September, provided the plans are approved within the expected timeline.
From the City Council, however, they prefer to be cautious. “It seems that everything is going well and progressing in the right direction, but we do not know dates,” municipal sources say. The actions will mainly focus on the galleries and chimneys of the buildings, where fibrocement elements remain.
The mayor of Badia del Vallès, Josep Martínez Valencia, has described the awarding as a historic moment for the municipality. “Today we complete the awarding of the entire first phase of asbestos removal in Badia, a historic milestone that is now a reality thanks to the collective involvement of the citizens and the administrations,” he stated in a press release. Martínez Valencia also highlighted “the will, effort, and perseverance” that have made possible an action long demanded by the residents and which for years “seemed impossible.”
For the residents of Badia del Vallès, the start of the works signifies the end of a long wait. Asbestos, banned in Spain since 2002, is still present in many buildings in the locality, and its removal is a historical demand of the neighbourhood movement. The first phase of the action covers almost all residential blocks, although the long-term goal is to eliminate any remnants of fibrocement throughout the municipal area.
The project has been made possible thanks to the collaboration between the City Council, the Generalitat, and the central Government, as well as the constant pressure from residents' associations. Badia del Vallès, with just over 13,000 inhabitants, aims to become a European benchmark in the fight against asbestos. If deadlines are met, the first workers could start working on the galleries and chimneys of the buildings before the summer ends.
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