They object to being forced to work extra hours – bringing them to a total of 37.5 a week – at the same time as their pay is being cut by five per cent and will be frozen thereafter for the foreseeable future, not increased in line with inflation.

The employees are also being forced to re-juggle their shifts and breaks.

Negotiations between the 540 staff members and the company Inagra, which is contracted by the city council, have failed.

Other than the market sites in the souks in the central Zaidín and Almanjáyar districts, which are heavily frequented by tourists, plus hospitals and health centres – all of which are being cleaned and the rubbish removed as normal – the rest of the city has nearly 1,000 tonnes of rubbish lying around the roads and pavements.

Two women were arrested on Thursday for setting fire to wheelie-bins, but Inagra denies that this had anything to do with the strike action.