| Introduction |
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The
Servei de Control de Mosquits (Mosquito Control Service, MCS) was
created in 1983 by the Corporació Metropolitana de Barcelona,
at the request of a group of local councils in the Llobregat delta
in order to control the mosquito populations within their boundaries.
The MCS was placed under a new governing authority, the Consell
Comarcal del Baix Llobregat, on its creation in 1989.
Today, the MCS renders its services in the following
districts and for the following organizations, which belong, with
the exception of l'Hospitalet, to the Baix Llobregat region:
Barcelona
Airport
Begues
Castelldefels
Cornellà
El
Prat de Llobregat
Esplugues
de Llobregat
Gavà
L'Hospitalet
de Llobregat
Martorell
Molins
de Rei
Pallejà
Sant
Andreu de la Barca
Sant
Boi de Llobregat
Sant
Feliu de Llobregat
Sant
Joan Despí
Sant
Just Desvern
Vallirana
Viladecans
The area served by the MCS comprises 24,800 hectares,
of which 9,000 form a part of the delta. In this region, the character
of which is determined to a large extent by the river Llobregat,
industry, croplands, nature reserves and recreational areas coexist,
all requiring complex and specialized mosquito control.
The activities of the MCS are based on integrated
control methods, the aim of which is to ensure maximum efficiency
and minimum repercussions for the environment. The concept of integrated
control combines in one organization all the methods of mosquito
control, including chemical control, environment modification, biological
agents and educational resources. 
In addition to solving mosquito problems, the Consell
Comarcal is involved in providing technical and scientific support
to control other environmental nuisances, such as the cemetery beetles
Necrobia sp, bugs Oxycarenus lavaterae, Chironomid
midges and sandflies.
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