Alex Trelinski
TORREVIEJA’S long-running war against illegal street sellers will be ramped up this summer with plain-clothed police officers dishing out penalties to anybody buying their products.
Fines of up to €200 are threatened against buyers- many of whom are unsuspecting tourists- in yet another bid to remove the hawkers nicknamed as ‘looky looky men’ from city promenades.
Penalties were introduced against last summer to apparently little effect with no reports about any actually being handed out.
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Police vehicles were also parked close by to sales points, but the hawkers carried on as normal with little or no action taken against them.
Besides not having a sales license, many of the goods sold by the ‘looky looky men’ are fakes, with legitimate traders complaining about the cut-price counterfeits.
Pedestrian walkways are also restricted as people have to weave through a narrowed pavement which on one side has bar and restaurant terraces and the sellers on the other side.
Torrevieja mayor Eduardo Dolon would not go into much detail about the new push against the vendors who have been around for decades.
Previous attempts to quash illegal selling have resulted in clashes between the police and hawkers.
In 2013, Torrevieja tried a ‘strong-arm’ approach as terrace chairs and tables were hurled into the street by sellers during a stand-off with the police.
Thousands of items were seized then and burnt at a municipal site, but the unlicenced traders simply reappeared.
