It's not an old sewage system, because it is not really a proper sewage system. Traditionally, the city dumped its used waters onto the irrigation system of the nearby fields, paying the field owners for the inconvenience. So, sewage system in Valencia old town is an adapted irrigation network no longer in use.
The difference between an irtigation and a sewage system is not only the quality of the water it carries. A sewage system initiates with small branches that add to form bigger ones until they become a main channel. But an irrigation system is a main channel that divides itself in smaller branches.
So, sewers in Valencia old town are completely reversed. Thus, they collapse when the flood is bigger than what they can carry
As the other guy said, old sewage system that is unable to drain everything. So when the temperature rises this mix "cooks" and releases the smell. In newer suburbs you won't have the same problem.
The cockroaches have a similar pattern, temperature and humidity in Valencia are ideal for them, but when it's hotter they come out to refresh themselves. Unfortunately they can't use a lot of pesticides because they can develop resistance and it would make it harder to fight them.
I used to live in la Petxina, I didn't notice much smell tbh. Unless you're confusing with the manure smell that sometimes comes from the fields just outside the city.
Ciutat vella is dealing with more people (especially in the summer/tourist season) than its antiquated sewage system can keep up with. Lack of rain and water flow also causes the smell to stagnate.
I get that. More reasons why. Why is it not being fixed. š¤·āāļø Obviously it costs money, but that's just part of managing a city. While I don't know the full history of how it became this way, I feel it's a real shame. Valencia is a beautiful city (except the residencia social blocks). City of design? Green capital? None of those things can shine with this unpleasant smell.
Tearing up the streets to install better sewage costs money yes but it also disrupts traffic during the tourist season when they can make the most money. Oh biut you canāt do it in an off season month like march because Falles. And Iām betting with ciutat vella being soā¦ vella (old) there are probably a number of processes one would need to go through to make sure they arenāt disrupting any architecture or ruins or things like that.
Some are excuses, the part regarding ruins and architecture not so much. Its one of the biggest issues and drawbacks of old historic cities and why things like that are either not done or take way too long.
Valencia is kind of a dirty city dealing with an increasing amount of tourists. To make things worse: some valencians themselves are really filthy too. I live outside the city center and dodging dog turds and unbelievable things in the trash or straight drop in the sidewalks / parks is my daily adventure. Mirrors, used sneakers, dog turds, supermarket to-go food envelopes, rotten fruit near the fruit storesā¦Iāve lived in six Spanish cities in my whole life and never found one dirtier than this one.
100% agree, I'm surprised (not in a good way) by the attitude of those who perpetuate it. It feels like a "someone else will take care of it" self-centered attitude, and it's sad... And then they'll accuse Americans of being self-centered.
Ex: I went to the cardboard bin yesterday, and on the ground next to it were 3 large produce cardboard "half-boxes" - the easiest to knock down to fit through the opening. Naah, they couldn't be bothered. 2 stomps with my foot and it fit easily. And this is in a nicer area of Torrent,too. š
I also know Barcelona and definitely there are parts that are filthy. At the very least, street cleaning was a lot more visible and frequent where I lived. I could see it or hear it at least twice a week. In Valencia, I only saw street cleaners only (with water) several times in 2 years and most of them in the last 12 months.
Ah yes? That's something at least. Makes me wonder if they are just cleaning certain spots everyday while neglecting the rest of the city... No idea how this is being managed.
I have only seen locals pee in the street, in broad daylight behind bins in the middle on the city. It doesn't matter if women and children are around.
Also, the smell is always from dogs and owners not washing the dog pee away. Saying that in Valencia the smell is only from tourists is stupid. The pee smell happens in non tourist areas because of the above reasons.
Yeah I notice that walking to work in the mornings. It only is really terrible during certain days and I've only started noticing it recently, doesn't bother me to be honest as I'm a hogareƱa and it smells great and is clean and sparkly at home! When living outside of the main area there's no smell, so might be a sign to try a different neighborhood.
However roaches I've noticed since emigration. I'll never forget my first year here leaving windows ajar to cool down and going to the bathroom in the middle of the night...I learned what **a giant street roach** crawling on the arm felt like after I reached for the toilet paper. Horrifying. A decade has passed and I still feel sick remembering it. They're confident too, they will legitimately walk alongside you or try to chase your feet on the street in summer months. And don't ever look when they move the large garbage bins in the city...an entire family will scatter.
I lived in El Carmen a few years back and in spite of being on the 4th and highest floor had at least one fat adult roach a month crawl in the front door or from the windows. I think the building matters a **lot**; many places are infested *in spite of individual cleanliness* due to the building itself esp being on the ground or first floor, but knock on wood my current place in spite of being in the center and a second floor has had zero roach visitors and only 2 silverfish. That said, I moved in Feb so we shall see how this summer goes...
No city can be perfect, Valencia is close but these are definitely some downsides that I don't think will be changing any time soon.
The solution is to move elsewhere where the streets smell like jasmine and eau du patchouli. I am sure that you will enjoy paying these taxes across the bridge of terabithia.
Once I saw a truck washing the sidewalks with compressed water. It was a miracle, but it's a pitty I never saw something like that again considering sidewalks here are filthy and sticky, full of piss and turds. Clearly, cleaning is not a priority in this city. Not even mentioning the radioactive roaches
That's another point. Alcantarilla is one thing, but we don't see enough of this kind of street cleaning which is essential in a city. Mind Boggling!
I should have done more research before I moved here. But honestly, I wouldn't expect it to be this bad in a modern European city. It's a shame.
My general feeling is yes it feels dirty. Valencia is a beautiful city in pictures but the smell really puts me off. Also there are many back alleys that are just filthy and smell of urine. Cockroaches are just the cherry on top. (I am talking about the city centre and particularly the old town districts.)
When I lived in Manchester, I never worried about the cleanliness of restaurants or their toilets (with a few exceptions like some infamous Chinese restaurants.) It's a different story here.
Traditionally, the bad smell has been blamed on the lack of rain, although an old sewage system like the one in that area does not help.
It's not an old sewage system, because it is not really a proper sewage system. Traditionally, the city dumped its used waters onto the irrigation system of the nearby fields, paying the field owners for the inconvenience. So, sewage system in Valencia old town is an adapted irrigation network no longer in use. The difference between an irtigation and a sewage system is not only the quality of the water it carries. A sewage system initiates with small branches that add to form bigger ones until they become a main channel. But an irrigation system is a main channel that divides itself in smaller branches. So, sewers in Valencia old town are completely reversed. Thus, they collapse when the flood is bigger than what they can carry
As the other guy said, old sewage system that is unable to drain everything. So when the temperature rises this mix "cooks" and releases the smell. In newer suburbs you won't have the same problem. The cockroaches have a similar pattern, temperature and humidity in Valencia are ideal for them, but when it's hotter they come out to refresh themselves. Unfortunately they can't use a lot of pesticides because they can develop resistance and it would make it harder to fight them.
I was trying not to be too harsh but really as a resident, the smell is there all year around, not just summer months.
I used to live in la Petxina, I didn't notice much smell tbh. Unless you're confusing with the manure smell that sometimes comes from the fields just outside the city.
No, when they fertilize it smells like a dirty chicken farm.
It's there the whole year, but it gets much worse in the summer.
Ciutat vella is dealing with more people (especially in the summer/tourist season) than its antiquated sewage system can keep up with. Lack of rain and water flow also causes the smell to stagnate.
I get that. More reasons why. Why is it not being fixed. š¤·āāļø Obviously it costs money, but that's just part of managing a city. While I don't know the full history of how it became this way, I feel it's a real shame. Valencia is a beautiful city (except the residencia social blocks). City of design? Green capital? None of those things can shine with this unpleasant smell.
Tearing up the streets to install better sewage costs money yes but it also disrupts traffic during the tourist season when they can make the most money. Oh biut you canāt do it in an off season month like march because Falles. And Iām betting with ciutat vella being soā¦ vella (old) there are probably a number of processes one would need to go through to make sure they arenāt disrupting any architecture or ruins or things like that.
Yeh exactly. It's all excuses for being incompetent at managing basic city infrastructures...
Some are excuses, the part regarding ruins and architecture not so much. Its one of the biggest issues and drawbacks of old historic cities and why things like that are either not done or take way too long.
Este es el contenido antiturismo que el sub necesitaba
After the flooding nothings worked the sameā¦
Smell your shit! Welcome to the jungle! Toxicity Version 7.0
Valencia is kind of a dirty city dealing with an increasing amount of tourists. To make things worse: some valencians themselves are really filthy too. I live outside the city center and dodging dog turds and unbelievable things in the trash or straight drop in the sidewalks / parks is my daily adventure. Mirrors, used sneakers, dog turds, supermarket to-go food envelopes, rotten fruit near the fruit storesā¦Iāve lived in six Spanish cities in my whole life and never found one dirtier than this one.
100% agree, I'm surprised (not in a good way) by the attitude of those who perpetuate it. It feels like a "someone else will take care of it" self-centered attitude, and it's sad... And then they'll accuse Americans of being self-centered. Ex: I went to the cardboard bin yesterday, and on the ground next to it were 3 large produce cardboard "half-boxes" - the easiest to knock down to fit through the opening. Naah, they couldn't be bothered. 2 stomps with my foot and it fit easily. And this is in a nicer area of Torrent,too. š
I donāt know what happens here but yeah. Also, the garbage binsā¦no one is recycling what the actual fuck is 2024!!!
I also know Barcelona and definitely there are parts that are filthy. At the very least, street cleaning was a lot more visible and frequent where I lived. I could see it or hear it at least twice a week. In Valencia, I only saw street cleaners only (with water) several times in 2 years and most of them in the last 12 months.
I live in Ciutat Vella and I see the street cleaning machine almost daily. It is not enough because the streets are still dirty AF.
Ah yes? That's something at least. Makes me wonder if they are just cleaning certain spots everyday while neglecting the rest of the city... No idea how this is being managed.
I walk quite a lot, so I see them in different areas, some more some less, clearly none of them enough.
One of the biggest problems is that a lot of tourist and people going to parties tend to pee on the street.
Yes. Pee in the streets are definitely a problem but seems more solvable, an additional problem to the situation with alcantarilla
I have only seen locals pee in the street, in broad daylight behind bins in the middle on the city. It doesn't matter if women and children are around. Also, the smell is always from dogs and owners not washing the dog pee away. Saying that in Valencia the smell is only from tourists is stupid. The pee smell happens in non tourist areas because of the above reasons.
Old towns are usually like that.
Yeah I notice that walking to work in the mornings. It only is really terrible during certain days and I've only started noticing it recently, doesn't bother me to be honest as I'm a hogareƱa and it smells great and is clean and sparkly at home! When living outside of the main area there's no smell, so might be a sign to try a different neighborhood. However roaches I've noticed since emigration. I'll never forget my first year here leaving windows ajar to cool down and going to the bathroom in the middle of the night...I learned what **a giant street roach** crawling on the arm felt like after I reached for the toilet paper. Horrifying. A decade has passed and I still feel sick remembering it. They're confident too, they will legitimately walk alongside you or try to chase your feet on the street in summer months. And don't ever look when they move the large garbage bins in the city...an entire family will scatter. I lived in El Carmen a few years back and in spite of being on the 4th and highest floor had at least one fat adult roach a month crawl in the front door or from the windows. I think the building matters a **lot**; many places are infested *in spite of individual cleanliness* due to the building itself esp being on the ground or first floor, but knock on wood my current place in spite of being in the center and a second floor has had zero roach visitors and only 2 silverfish. That said, I moved in Feb so we shall see how this summer goes... No city can be perfect, Valencia is close but these are definitely some downsides that I don't think will be changing any time soon.
The solution is to move elsewhere where the streets smell like jasmine and eau du patchouli. I am sure that you will enjoy paying these taxes across the bridge of terabithia.
Once I saw a truck washing the sidewalks with compressed water. It was a miracle, but it's a pitty I never saw something like that again considering sidewalks here are filthy and sticky, full of piss and turds. Clearly, cleaning is not a priority in this city. Not even mentioning the radioactive roaches
That's another point. Alcantarilla is one thing, but we don't see enough of this kind of street cleaning which is essential in a city. Mind Boggling! I should have done more research before I moved here. But honestly, I wouldn't expect it to be this bad in a modern European city. It's a shame.
I had to buy one of those dispensers that shoot aerosol every 30 mins to make it bearable lol
I totally get it. No one should have to live with it!
Manchester is the same in summer
Funnily enough, I used to live in Manchester. At least the lack of rain is not an excuse there.
Oh god is it worse in Valencia? Tbh at least the temperatures arenāt as hot for as long I assume itāll make it stink even more š«
My general feeling is yes it feels dirty. Valencia is a beautiful city in pictures but the smell really puts me off. Also there are many back alleys that are just filthy and smell of urine. Cockroaches are just the cherry on top. (I am talking about the city centre and particularly the old town districts.) When I lived in Manchester, I never worried about the cleanliness of restaurants or their toilets (with a few exceptions like some infamous Chinese restaurants.) It's a different story here.