Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, July 19, 2026 – Municipal cleaning crews are working daily across the Malecón, Centro and the Romantic Zone, concentrating routine sweeping, washing and landscape maintenance in public spaces carrying some of the city’s heaviest pedestrian and commercial traffic.
The work covers the Malecón, Los Arcos, Parque Hidalgo, Plaza Lázaro Cárdenas, Cuale Island, streets leading to the Los Muertos pier and other routes connecting the urban core with the waterfront. Crews have also washed the Los Muertos pier and the Malecón amphitheater while pruning and maintaining palms along the promenade.
The daily presence addresses visible litter and wear in the city’s busiest walking districts, but it should not be mistaken for a resolution of Puerto Vallarta’s broader waste collection problems.
The municipality changed its neighborhood collection calendar on July 15 after months of missed routes and complaints about trash remaining on streets. Centro, Olas Altas and Emiliano Zapata are assigned daily morning collection under the revised garbage schedule, with routes beginning at 6:30 AM.
That schedule depends on a sanitation operation that is still working through staffing and equipment constraints. Public Services director Rodolfo Domínguez said earlier this month that the department needed 45 additional drivers and collection workers. Municipal payroll records cited in the staffing report showed that 41 route drivers and 114 sanitation workers were assigned across 54 morning, afternoon, and evening routes. The department had 30 garbage trucks at that stage.
Puerto Vallarta has added four compacting trucks and five pickup trucks purchased with beach-zone funds. Those vehicles were assigned to cleaning and waste work related to the city’s coastal zone, adding capacity in areas including the Malecón and beach approaches. Vallarta Daily reported on the vehicle purchase on July 2.
The focus on Centro and the Romantic Zone also follows pressure from neighborhood businesses and community representatives. A standing monthly meeting now brings together city departments, SEAPAL, sanitation officials, and local stakeholders to address trash, sewer, and electricity complaints in Emiliano Zapata.
The agreement was reached after repeated service problems affected streets with dense restaurant, nightlife and residential activity. The service agreement was announced earlier this month.
Maintenance crews are also working beside an unresolved public works issue. The Malecón expansion north of the traditional promenade remained unfinished in early July, eight months after construction began. Barriers, open work areas and damaged sections continued to affect pedestrians and nearby businesses. Daily cleaning improves the condition of open sections, but it does not settle the delayed construction timeline.
The city’s latest announcement did not state how many employees are assigned to the tourist-core cleaning program, what hours they work, how much waste is collected or what response time applies when a location deteriorates between daily rounds. Those details will determine whether the permanent program produces consistent results beyond the most photographed sections of the waterfront.
People and businesses in Centro, Olas Altas, and Emiliano Zapata should place household waste at designated street corners within the 6:30 AM collection window. Bulky items, construction debris, appliances, and tree branches are handled separately and should not be left with ordinary household bags.
