Fines and fracas during lockdown
People have been caught surfing, swimming and jogging by the security forces
ALTHOUGH the vast majority of residents are adhering to the state of emergency lockdown, a small percentage of the population continue to think that the measures do not apply to them.
In Guardamar del Segura a surfer and a swimmer were caught at two separate beaches by the Guardia Civil after anonymous tip-offs from residents who had seen them from their windows.
The surfer was in an area of sand dunes where access to vehicles was restricted so the officers had to drive around the port area and then walk to where he was.
The man claimed not to have realised that surfing was prohibited under the state of emergency.
The swimmer was in an area known as the ‘casas de pescadores’ (fishermen’s houses), where the beach is impossible to see from the road because the houses block the view.
Both men were issued with fines for violating the prohibition of free movement.
In another incident in Guardamar, a group of people who were having a birthday party in a communal area of an urbanisation were fined.
A spokesman for the force reported on Sunday that a resident had reported it to them.
The officers arrived to find seven people aged between 19 and 32, who were celebrating with a barbecue, alcoholic drinks and festive clothing.
In Moraira, the Guardia Civil arrested a 23-year-old British man last Friday, who had broken confinement regulations and fled from officers.
The young man, dressed in sportswear, was observed taking exercise by the officers.
When they asked for identification and his explanation for leaving his home, he refused to respond to any questions or provide any identity documentation.
According to the officers, he then stated that he was going to a supermarket that was two kilometres from his home.
After further requests for identification, the man fled on foot but was soon caught and detained.
The Briton has been charged with crime of resisting arrest and disobeying law enforcement officers.
A young man from Madrid was arrested for boasting publicly about how he had travelled to La Safor area with Covid-19 symptoms.
The 23-year-old sparked panic when he bragged on social media about having dodged police to get to what he called ‘this pig-farm called Gandia’ because he was experiencing symptoms and his nearest hospital in Madrid was full.
He was staying at his family holiday home in Daimús, just south of Gandía on the coast.
The flood of furious comments in response to his post – where he included recent selfies taken on the beach in Daimús – attracted the attention of the Guardia Civil in
Oliva.
With the help of local police, they had managed to trace and arrest him within a matter of hours.
The number of fines issued by Alicante local police during the first month of the state of emergency doubled over Easter, reported city hall.
During Holy Week, 7,950 vehicles were stopped, and 9,185 people identified.
The days with the most fines were Thursday (156) and Good Friday (173), when local police caught people from Madrid, Albacete, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Teruel, Valencia, Jaén, Guadalajara and Valladolid going to their holiday homes.
During the week they caught people who had come from Madrid, Guadalajara, Valladolid and even Germany, and fined people walking dogs a long way from their homes, taking drugs in the street, out walking as a family, and carrying out building work in their homes without permits.
Security councillor José Ramón González said the weeklong operation had been the largest of the whole state of emergency.
He explained that people who had come from other municipalities were not allowed to go to their second homes and were ordered to go back where they had come from.
Easter getaway
Police roadblocks prevented many people from inland cities reaching their second homes on the coast over the Easter holiday.
Although residents reported that tourists had managed to breach the defences of the security forces and reach towns such as Los Montesinos, Ciudad Quesada in Rojales and La Cala in Finestrat, the feared mass invasion was averted.
Local and national police officers, together with the Guardia Civil, stopped cars at the entrance to resorts such as Jávea, Dénia, Calpe, Torrevieja and Santa Pola – but they reported there were only ‘specific cases’ of illegal movement and not the predicted wave of disobedience.
Officers checking identities have asked people whose main residence is elsewhere to prove they arrived legally before the start of confinement – such as showing till receipts and other records of purchases.
Cars stopped on their way to the coast – still carrying luggage – were turned around under emergency measures and the drivers fined.