Alex Trelinski
ALICANTE’S mayor has demanded answers over why Policia Local cars had no insurance or proof of payment.
The matter came to a head when a police officer ticketed two patrol vehicles for breaching the law.
It is an offence to drive a vehicle in Spain without a proof of insurance document inside it.
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Mayor Luis Barcala ordered an immediate inquiry on Friday into what happened and ‘why it happened’.
He added that an immediate check was being enforced to ensure all municipal vehicles have their insurance in order.
One of the unions representing police officers, SITAP, said on Wednesday that ‘several’ police cars in Alicante had been driving around with expired insurance since September 16.
On social media, police officers denounced that ‘we have been patrolling in these cars without insurance for almost a month’.
SITAP said the problem was reported to police chiefs who rebuffed the complaints.
The union stated: “They ordered them to stay on the street because they have no more cars.”
Some of the vehicles in the Alicante fleet are said to be to 16 years old.
On Thursday morning, police officers took patrol cars off the road themselves by enforcing the law as the vehicles had no proof of insurance.
SITAP said that police headquarters told them the insurance issue ‘was a mistake and was going to be corrected’.
Police unions have demanded a meeting with Luis Barcala who said he would not make any further public comment on the issue for the time being.
