ROAD signs have appeared in Torrevieja warning about 200 fines on people buying from illegal street sellers. The yellow and black hoardings have been erected in areas which see the largest concentration of the socalled looky looky men. Nevertheless they have had close to zero impact as buying and selling has continued as normal close to the signs. The unlicensed traders mainly sell fake sportsrelated goods, taking up pitches along the city s main promenade between Hombre de Mar right up to the end of Avenida de los Marineros at Playa de Cura. Three warning signs are now in place along the Paseo de Juan Aparicio and two at Los Naufragos beach. Other areas covered are La Mata, Los Locos, and El Curahas, with more signs planned. The initiative started last year with signs and fines, but the signs were taken down within hours and there were no reports of any customers being penalised. The new crop of warning signs have been erected at a higher level and within the viewing range of security cameras. Increased patrols of plainclothed police officers have also been promised. Legitimate businesses have complained for years that their livelihoods are being threatened by low prices offered by the vendors. Torrevieja council has been battling the illegal hawkers since 2010 with little success as the authority said it got little support from the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional. In 2013, a strongarm approach was deployed as terrace chairs and tables were hurled into the street by sellers during a standoff with the police. Thousands of items were seized and burnt at a municipal site, but the hawkers simply reappeared with new stock at their old pitches. . Alex worked for 30 years for the BBC as a presenter, producer and manager. He covered a variety of areas specialising in sport, news and politics. After moving to the Costa Blanca over a decade ago, he edited a newspaper for 5 years and worked on local radio. You must belogged into post a comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.Learn how your comment data is processed. . To contact the newsdesk out of regular office hours please call 34 665 798 618 We are available over the Christmas and Easter holidays. Voted Spain s number one expat newspaper and second in the world , by 27,000 people polled by UK marketing group Tesca. Also dubbed The best English newspaper in Spain, according to the UK s Rough Guide. The Olive Press is the English language newspaper for Spain. Local news, in particular, from the Costa del Sol, Andalucia, Alicante, Murcia and Mallorca, plus national news from around Spain. A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press launched in 2006 and represents the huge and growing expatriate community in Spain with over 100,000 printed copies monthly, 50,000 visitors a day online we have an estimated readership of more than 500,000 people a month. Enter your Email address:. I have read and agree to the privacy policy. . 2006 2024Luke Stewart Media SL  All rights reserved.
Road signs have been put up in Torrevieja to warn about fines for buying from illegal street sellers, although there has been little impact on their operations. Unlicensed traders sell fake goods in popular areas, prompting complaints from legitimate businesses. Authorities have struggled to combat this issue for years, with limited support from law enforcement agencies. Increased measures, such as higher warning signs and more police patrols, are being introduced to address the problem.