Rat Infestation Troubles Brussels Pedestrian Zone: ‘Stop Throwing Food on the Street’

Several rats ran openly through a construction site near Le Grand Café on Saturday evening, startling passers-by in the heart of Brussels. The activity points to an active infestation in the Anspachlaan pedestrian zone.

The area has struggled with rats for some time. During the unusually hot weeks of summer, the animals largely disappeared from street level, presumably seeking cooler conditions in the sewers. As temperatures became more bearable and rain returned, they emerged again.

Anas Ben Abdelmoumen, Brussels' alderman for public cleanliness, has been monitoring the problem and posted about it on Instagram on Friday. This summer, he had 15 smart digital rat traps installed in the pedestrian zone following successful tests near the Atomium.

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Stop throwing food on the street.

The traps, developed by Belgian company Strygoo, lure and capture rats while recording real-time data on how often the animals appear. That information provides an indication of the size of the local rat population. The devices supplement the city's regular extermination efforts.

The city also wants to make the zone less attractive to rats as a food source. With snack bars lining up one after another, officials are asking restaurant owners to secure their garbage bags more carefully. Ben Abdelmoumen is urging the public not to leave food scraps on the street.

His spokesperson, Andreas De Kerpel, said some people leave entire loaves or pizzas, while others abandon fast-food leftovers. Some do so while trying to feed birds, without considering the consequences, while others simply discard food out of convenience. Brussels plans to combine education with deterrent fines to curb the infestation.

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Some people dump entire loaves or pizzas, while others leave the remains of their fast-food meals. For rats, all of it is a feast.