Pigeons, Pests Spark Neighborhood Outcry

Cartagena residents in the Morería Baja and Cuatro Santos areas say pigeon droppings, flies and other insects have become a recurring problem in and around residential buildings, prompting complaints to the city over health conditions. La Verdad reported on May 25 that the municipal Salubridad service was already working in Morería Baja and had asked the city’s Infraestructuras department to remove netting covering two buildings in Cuatro Santos. The complaints center on buildings and lots near the historic center, where neighbors say accumulated waste and bird droppings are attracting pests. The issue has also drawn political complaints in recent weeks over the condition of municipal properties in Cuatro Santos. ### Which Cartagena neighborhoods are at the center of the complaints? Morería Baja and Cuatro Santos are the two areas named in the May 25 report by La Verdad. The newspaper said neighbors had raised concerns about a growing presence of pigeons and insects in buildings there, with Salubridad intervening in Morería Baja and municipal infrastructure services being asked to act in Cuatro Santos. Cuatro Santos is a central Cartagena street near the Roman Theatre area, according to local reports published in April. (laverdad.es) Those reports described municipal buildings and a parking-lot facade where protective sheeting or netting had collected large amounts of pigeon droppings, with flies appearing around the site. ### What exactly are neighbors saying they are seeing? Pigeon droppings and flies are the most consistently described conditions in the local reporting. Murcia Plaza reported on April 16 that the Partido Cantonal de Cartagena, or PCAN, said the facade coverings on a municipal plot in Cuatro Santos were holding “kilos” of pigeon droppings and causing a constant presence of flies on the street. (murciaplaza.com) La Verdad said on May 25 that the complaints had widened beyond pigeons alone, referring to a proliferation of “palomas y bichos” — pigeons and bugs — in the affected buildings. A separate local political statement this month described Morería Baja as suffering from garbage, pests and neglect, though that characterization came from an opposition party rather than city services. ### Why is the netting on two Cuatro Santos buildings part of the dispute? (murciaplaza.com) La Verdad reported that Salubridad asked Infraestructuras to remove the netting covering two buildings in Cuatro Santos. The report did not say in the search excerpt when that removal would happen, but it tied the request directly to the complaints about pigeons and insects. April reports from Murcia Plaza and PCAN said facade coverings on municipal buildings or plots in the same area had become a surface where pigeon droppings accumulated. (laverdad.es) Those accounts linked the coverings to the persistence of flies and to complaints from passersby and nearby residents. ### What has the city done so far? (laverdad.es) Salubridad has already begun work in Morería Baja, according to La Verdad’s May 25 report. The same report said the department had formally asked Infraestructuras to intervene in Cuatro Santos by removing the netting from two buildings. Cartagena has also acknowledged pest control as a broader municipal issue in past coverage about contracts targeting rats, cockroaches, gulls, mosquitoes and pigeons. (murciaplaza.com) That wider backdrop does not resolve the current complaints, but it shows the city already treats bird and insect control as a public-health service area. (laverdad.es) ### How did the issue reach this point? April 16 is the earliest verified public complaint in the available reporting tied to this episode. On that date, Murcia Plaza said PCAN had denounced the state of a municipal lot in Cuatro Santos, describing pigeon droppings on facade coverings and a constant presence of flies. (msn.com) May 25 brought the clearest sign of a municipal response. La Verdad reported that Salubridad was already acting in Morería Baja and had elevated the Cuatro Santos issue to Infraestructuras, indicating that the complaints had moved from neighborhood protest to city service action. ### What happens next in Morería Baja and Cuatro Santos? The next concrete step named in the reporting is the requested removal of the netting from two Cuatro Santos buildings by Infraestructuras. (murciaplaza.com) La Verdad’s May 25 report also indicates that sanitation work in Morería Baja is already under way. Any further update is likely to come from Cartagena municipal services or additional local reporting on whether the netting is removed and whether the pigeon and insect complaints ease in the two neighborhoods. (laverdad.es)