Not a tourist magnet THE paint is fresh at Creme Delacreme, a chic new restaurant on the fringes of Madrid’s bustling Chueca district. But a rancid, shoulder-high pile of rubbish blocks the pavement across the narrow street as the Spanish capital buckles under the weight of a cleaners’ strike that started on November 4th. Monica García, the boss, had originally planned to open days after the strike began, but is glad she did not. “Imagine having people sitting at the window tables, looking out at that filth,” she says. But when, she worries, will Madrid be clean again?The rubbish strike has seen unions and contractors tussle over proposals to change working conditions and lay off 1,400 cleaners. The city recently renewed its cleaning contracts, boasting of a 10% saving. Now, to the dismay of a city hall headed by Ana Botella, the mayor from the centre-right Popular Party, three of the four companies involved want to fire workers. Rather than tidy up, some now prowl the city at night, emptying bins onto pavements.The strike is a symptom of wider malaise in the city. Madrileños are glum about losing, in September, yet another bid to…
