Electric scooter riders demand more rights during protest in Spain’s Malaga as council prepares to ban them from pedestrian areas

ELECTRIC scooter riders in Malaga have demanded that the council gives them more rights.

Around twenty scooter drivers gathered on the steps of Malaga town hall on Sunday, calling on the council to give them the same rights as cyclists.

The protest, organised by The Association of Vehicle Users for Personal and Ecological Mobility (Ampem), comes as Malaga is set to ban electric scooters from pedestrian areas next month. 

Co-president of Ampem, Angel Terron, said: “The easiest thing to do is to assimilate them with the rules that bicycles already follow.”

He added: “We must reclaim public space for sustainable vehicles from cars, more so if Malaga claims to be a clean and modern city.” 

Despite electric scooters’ bad reputation, partly due to their involvement in a number of accidents, Ampem says they have numerous benefits, including emitting less emissions than cars and making less noise.