Yaiza asks supermarkets to stop plastic bags blowing away in Playa Blanca

The Ayuntamiento de Yaiza has sent a written request to supermarkets in the municipality asking them to take measures against the build-up of plastic bags and single-use gloves around their premises. The issue is most visible in Playa Blanca, where strong wind picks up lightweight waste and scatters it within minutes.

It is not only a matter of appearance. According to the local administration, bags and gloves end up in green areas, ravines and public roads, with a real chance of reaching the sea. Once they leave the waste collection system, recovering them is extremely difficult.

The town hall's suggestion is straightforward and inexpensive: outdoor bins fitted with heavy lids on shop frontages and in car parks, so that plastic cannot be lifted by gusts. The letter also leaves room for any other complementary action the chains consider more effective.

Mayor Oscar Noda, who signed the request, thanked the retailers in advance: "Those in charge of the large retail outlets have always been willing to help keep their surroundings clean, so we trust they can place bins with heavy lids on their frontages and car park areas to stop plastic from blowing away, or take any other complementary action they consider appropriate."

The administration also considers shoppers' cooperation essential, through one simple habit: not leaving bags and gloves in shopping trolleys. Waste left in trolleys, the town hall notes, is equally at the mercy of the wind.

Why the wind matters so much in Playa Blanca

Anyone living in the south of the island knows the pattern: supermarket car parks in Playa Blanca are open, flat spaces exposed to a wind that blows steadily for much of the year. A bag left in a trolley does not stay where it was put. The route is almost always the same: flower beds and low walls first, then the ravines running down to the coast, and finally the sea.

For visitors renting a car and doing a weekly shop, the practical rule is short: anything light goes with you and into the right container, even a single bag or a glove used at the fruit counter. It takes seconds, and it saves hours of clean-up work along the roads and green areas of the municipality.