Seville gets smelly

The normally scenic streets of Seville have taken a turn for the unsightly thanks to an ongoing garbage collectors’ strike that is entering its second week. The narrow alleys of the ancient city — one of Spain’s most popular tourist destinations — are currently choked with more than 4,500 tons of trash, according to UPI. ...

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614296_130204_sevilleh_506936492.jpg

The normally scenic streets of Seville have taken a turn for the unsightly thanks to an ongoing garbage collectors' strike that is entering its second week.

The normally scenic streets of Seville have taken a turn for the unsightly thanks to an ongoing garbage collectors’ strike that is entering its second week.

The narrow alleys of the ancient city — one of Spain’s most popular tourist destinations — are currently choked with more than 4,500 tons of trash, according to UPI. Garbage workers in the city are striking in response to proposed austerity measures that would reduce their wages by 5 percent while increasing their working hours. What does the slow pileup of 4,500 tons of trash look like? It’s not pretty:

EPA/RAUL CARO

Jorge/Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images

Jorge/Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images

Jorge/Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images

Gross? Certainly. But still not as gross as Naples.

Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer is the Europe editor at Foreign Policy. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and Forbes, among other places. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and master’s degrees from Peking University and the London School of Economics. The P.Q. stands for Ping-Quon. Twitter: @APQW

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