The garbage tax hike is setting fire to Campodón, the Alcorcón neighborhood that wants to become independent.

Destroyed sidewalks, unmaintained roads, insufficient trash cans, and paying a sum of taxes that doesn't correspond to the public services they have. Fifty residents of the Campodón residential area are in favor of separating from Alcorcón, the municipality to which they belong but which is located 5 kilometers away, and joining Villaviciosa de Odón, the town with which they resemble each other down to the point of sharing streets.

For Marina, taking the bus is an ordeal. She has to be very careful in her wheelchair, her eyes fixed on every piece of sidewalk raised by tree roots—and there are quite a few. That's why she sometimes opts to go directly on the road. "They always end up throwing the ball out and never fix this. I'm scared because this place isn't at all accessible, and I'm just as much of a citizen as those who don't use wheelchairs," the resident of this residential complex explains to ABC.

Renovating the sidewalks is just one of a long list of demands from the residents of this isolated Alcorcón neighborhood to the city council led by Candelaria Testa (PSOE). Tired of the unresolved situation, they have decided to launch a petition to become part of Villaviciosa de Odón. "It's hard to distinguish what belongs to Villaviciosa and what belongs to Alcorcón. There's a street that begins with a house that belongs to Villaviciosa, and the two adjacent ones belong to Alcorcón. It makes no sense for the organization to be like this," a spokesperson for the Neighborhood Association for the Improvement of Campodón told this newspaper.

The final straw, which prompted some residents of this 50-year-old neighborhood to band together to resolve this "unfair" situation, came a few months ago with the garbage tax. They calculated and realized that by belonging to a municipality with which they have no physical borders, but administrative ones, they would save half the tax on this tax, 25% on the property tax, and the entire Vado tax. "We're paying for public services we don't actually have. People have to carry garbage bags in their cars to the containers because the existing ones are too far to walk. And that's why they want to charge us €600," this neighborhood association claims.

But the lack of a municipal boundary has also been a problem. "Some residents have gone to the containers provided by Villaviciosa City Council to throw away their garbage because there are no other ones nearby, and they've been warned that they can't do so or they'll be fined," says Jorge, a member of the association, pointing to a sign warning that the containers were only for the service of residents of the neighboring town.

"This situation isn't normal. People want change now," he continues, as he arrives at the home of Segundo Hernández, one of Campodón's oldest residents. "I've lived here since '85, and it's true that it's always been this way. Although these issues were previously better managed by a community association that has since dissolved," he tells ABC. Segundo, although somewhat skeptical, has already signed the document that the association has been going door-to-door to find out what the thousand owners of this residential complex think. "Undoubtedly, we're in a bad way, and I'm in favor of this proposal because things seem to be working a little better in Villaviciosa," he asserts.

These are two of the points the neighborhood platform has emphasized, but they also lament the lack of proximity to municipal services such as cultural centers, sports centers, and shops, road cleaning, and irrigation water management, as well as the lack of public transportation in this development. "What sense does it make for firefighters to have to travel 5 kilometers if there's a fire when the firefighters in Villaviciosa are much closer to it?" says Carlos, another resident supporting this cause.

For all these reasons, they are calling for "a more accessible, efficient, and fair management model, and we believe that Villaviciosa de Odón can offer a better future for our development": "The improvement of Campodón cannot continue to wait." And the law may eventually endorse this. The collection of signatures is just the first step in a process that will take approximately one year, they say.

This entire movement is based on Article 17 of Law 2/2003 of the Local Administration of the Community of Madrid, which establishes that "residents may promote the alteration of municipal boundaries by means of a petition signed by one-third of the residents of the municipality or part of the municipality that would be affected by the alteration. The petition must be submitted with a report justifying the improvements in municipal management that the alteration would entail, along with the documentation established by regulations." Once all residents have been informed of this initiative, they must notify the local authorities involved.

The Villaviciosa de Odón City Council states that "they have no knowledge or official communication on the matter, except for what has been published in the media," and therefore have not commented on the matter.

Municipal sources in Alcorcón assure us they are aware of this situation, although they have received "no official communication or specific request in this regard." They are also aware of the shortcomings Campodón suffers: "However, we must emphatically state that those that are the responsibility and jurisdiction of the council are being addressed on a permanent basis."

They emphasize their "commitment to improving this neighborhood, demonstrated through ongoing contact with the residents themselves, as well as with the La Unión neighborhood association, the Villas de Alcorcón homeowners' association, and the Conservation Entity." They emphasize that Alcorcón is currently promoting the development of Retamar de la Huerta , near this neighborhood, with 3,500 homes, "which will further improve Campodón's integration with the rest of the city."

This wouldn't be the first time Madrid residents have made use of this law. In 1994, the Viñagrande neighborhood of Leganés became part of Alcorcón. The situation was very similar to what the residents of Campodón are experiencing today: Viñagrande was 6 kilometers from the center of Leganés.

After a process that lasted several years, residents voted in a referendum to join this Madrid town.