Alex Trelinski
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 so-called ‘looky looky’ men.
Nevertheless they have had close to zero impact as buying and selling has continued as normal- close to the signs.
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The unlicensed traders mainly sell fake sports-related 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 plain-clothed 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 ‘strong-arm’ approach was deployed as terrace chairs and tables were hurled into the street by sellers during a stand-off 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.
