Police enforce municipal border closures
Measure will be in force for this weekend at least
THE SECOND weekend of border closures in the larger towns and cities of the Valencia region resulted in more fines being issued by the authorities, but the vast majority of people observed the restrictions.
Among those paying the price of not complying was a cyclist living in Benidorm who posted a photo on a social network of himself in a neighbouring municipality, joking that he had managed to dodge the checkpoints.
Unfortunately for him, the National Police monitor social networks and saw his post, and the chief superintendent of the Benidorm force came to the man’s house to issue the fine and warn him that his behaviour was making this already bad situation even worse.
The resident apologised for his irresponsible actions, noted a police spokesman.
Also in Benidorm, officers broke up an illegal party in a bar, where people were drinking alcohol and not social distancing or wearing masks.
Not only were all the guests fined, but the bar owners face a penalty of €20,000.
Another incident resulted in two Dutch men being arrested after they repeatedly tried to enter Benidorm without a valid reason.
After being refused at various checkpoints they left their car and tried to sneak in on foot but were finally chased down and found to be in possession of drugs and a considerable amount of cash.
Orihuela local police reported they had issued 192 proposed fines at the 68 border checkpoints they set up over the weekend.
They also arrested a man for allegedly threatening his girlfriend with a knife in the rural district of Raiguero, and three Algerian men for trying to break into their neighbour’s house.
Elche security councillor Ramón Abad praised the population after only 124 proposed fines were issued after more than 1,700 vehicle stops around the municipal borders.
Monitoring of the beaches also showed that most people had behaved well and the other fines they issued were 24 for not wearing a mask, 114 for being in groups, nine for violating the curfew and 23 for drinking alcohol in public.
Coordination with the local police ensured that there was not a repeat of the serious traffic jams which occurred by checkpoints last weekend.
Local police in Calpe filed 27 complaints from January 1 to February 2, the majority for failing to wear a mask or using one inappropriately.
However, they only issue fines of up to €100 as a last resort, in those cases when a citizen is notified he must wear a mask but still fails to do so, a town hall spokesman explained.
Measures under review
The restrictions brought in on January 25 – which include the closure of bars and restaurants – were due to last until 23.59 on February 15. When Costa Blanca News went to press yesterday (Thursday) regional government chiefs had not yet indicated whether they intended to extend the measures, or relax some elements of the restrictions.