Sex, drugs and drunks getting on the truck: the portrait of Barcelona by those who have been driving in the city for 35 years

A garbage truck driver in Barcelona for 35 years, Jordi Molina says that the early hours in the Catalan capital have become an increasingly hostile scenario, marked by disorder, drug consumption and disrespect in traffic. In an interview with the newspaper Crónica Global, the professional described a routine that requires constant alert and that, according to him, has no parallel in more than three decades of work.

Heir to his father’s job, who even had his own truck, Molina starts his shift around 10 pm, leaving the Free Trade Zone at the service of CLD, one of the four companies that share garbage collection in the city. Among the daily difficulties, he points out the lack of respect of cyclists, electric scooter users and app drivers, who, according to the report, ignore the signs and maneuvering space of the heavy vehicle. The problem, he says, worsened after the pandemic.

The most serious report concerns the nighttime disorder in neighborhoods such as Raval and Poblenou. “I find people defecating, urinating or having sex in the middle of the street, taking drugs in front of me, and drunk people trying to get on the truck,” he described to the publication. He associates part of the behavior with the inequality between the districts: from Diagonal Avenue down, he says, there are many more people on the streets, although he recognizes that the reading may sound “classist”.

Molina’s discomfort speaks to Barcelona’s security data. According to figures from the Secretariat of the Interior cited by the Spanish press, crimes in the city fell by about 6% compared to 2024, but drug trafficking (27%), episodes with knives (23%) and sexual assaults (4.4%) increased. A municipal survey also points out that part of the residents feel more insecure in the face of the increase in crime and the lower police presence.

The journey begins at noon, with only six or seven hours of sleep. Molina says he has always worked “very comfortable” at night; The worst, he says, are the rotating weekend shifts, when “the person goes out, goes very eagerly, and it is not possible to relax”. At each stop, with the support of two monitors and four cameras, he dumps more than 2,000 liters of garbage in seconds.

The constant tension, says the driver, began to affect his health and caused him anxiety. Owner of a fixed route, today in the district of Les Corts, he demands more recognition for a category that he considers essential and often treated as a hindrance in the urban flow. “Without us, there would be a very serious problem of rats and diseases, but not everyone understands,” he says.