Overview
- Seprona’s “Cover” operation exposed a scheme that diverted and buried more than 167,000 tonnes of construction waste, including asbestos, with 12 people and three companies under investigation.
- Investigators say the group used a “fill and seal” method that mixed hazardous debris with soil and then compacted it so sites looked like leveled farmland.
- The Guardia Civil is probing an illegal drop of old asbestos roofing sheets on a municipal lot in Castro de Rei, where cameras identified the truck and fines could reach €300,000 after the waste was safely removed.
- Spain recorded 17,173 administrative infringements tied to waste and dumping in 2025, with 132 people detained, while Catalonia logged 2,633 complaints that included 306 abandoned vehicles in natural areas.
- Spain also led a recent international crackdown that seized 127,000 tonnes and made 337 arrests, while an EU court case over 195 illegal dumps shows the problem’s persistence.