As part of the Department of Security and Local Police’s control campaign launched between March 15th and 30th, Alicante has issued 315 fines for failure to use personal mobility vehicles (PMVs) such as electric scooters, skates, skateboards, and similar devices correctly. This activity was preceded by another, which took place between March 11th and 14th, in which officers visited 117 educational centres throughout the city to enlighten pupils on the requirements, characteristics, and various types of automobiles, as well as traffic regulations on urban roads.

Of the 315 breaches recorded by Local Police officers throughout the 15-day campaign, 113 (35%) were for riding in unauthorised pedestrian zones, while another 68 (21.6%) were for riding on unauthorised roadways, accounting for the vast majority of the anomalies discovered. Failure to wear a safety helmet also resulted in 45 additional punishments (14.3%), making it the third most common reason of noncompliance.

Aside from these violations, 19 fines have been imposed for negligent driving, 16 for driving with headphones, a helmet, or using a mobile phone, 14 for violating age limits, 13 for carrying a second passenger, 12 for using bus lanes or tram platforms, 10 for failing to use a bell, lights, or brakes, and five for other offences such as running red lights or driving the wrong way, among others. The PMV control campaign resulted in the inspection of 378 vehicles, five of which were immobilised.

According to Julio Calero, the Security Councillor, “We are working to improve road safety with campaigns like this one aimed at controlling scooters and other personal mobility vehicles, as has the Department of Urban Mobility with the installation of new radars at the main access points to the city, which have managed to reduce the speed limit on a road to 50 km/h and, therefore, improve road safety and reduce the risk of accidents.”

“The Local Police conducted a series of control campaigns that concentrated on street cleanliness and unmanaged waste (debris), resulting in 100 complaints in 10 days. We have now continued to regulate PMVs as part of an informational and instructive campaign throughout the city’s schools. “PMV drivers must know how and where they should drive, as well as their equipment and that of the vehicle, in order to comply with the municipal ordinance,” according to Calero.

The municipal campaign has highlighted forbidden places for electric scooters, including sidewalks, paved promenades, pedestrian zones, bike lanes, bus lanes and the TRAM platform.

Controls were conducted in various areas of the city, including Jijona Avenue, Plaza de España and Plaza de Santa Teresa, City Hall and Old Town, Alfonso El Sabio Avenue, Central Market and Jaime II Avenue, City of Assisi, San Blas, North Zone, Benalúa and Babel, beaches, Pintor Baeza-Colombia streets, Altozano and Los Ángeles, La Florida, southern zone around Elche Avenue, Gran Vía, and San Gabriel.

One of the campaign’s goals is to ensure that pedestrians have the right of way and travel at reasonable speeds, while simultaneously opposing careless or dangerous driving. The minimum age for electric-powered MPVs is 16, and only one seat is permitted on board. Fines for violating the municipal ordinance range from €100 to €500.

“This awareness and surveillance campaign highlights the importance of driving these vehicles with caution and the priority of respecting pedestrians and other road users,” according to Calero. “It also emphasises the need to wear a protective helmet, avoid riding on pavements or in pedestrian areas, and observe speed limits up to a maximum of 25 kilometres per hour,” she said.

Two illegal exotic birds, a protected macaw and an invasive parrot, were rescued from the garage of a property in Santa Pola.

According to the Guardia Civil, the birds are a blue-and-yellow macaw and a Kramer’s parakeet. They were temporarily immobilised because their owner lacked the necessary documentation for legal ownership, such as certificates of origin or import, as well as documentation proving their legal acquisition.

The Guardia Civil’s Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) has sent proposed sanctions to the Valencian Community’s Ministry of Environment, Water, Infrastructure, and Territory, as well as the Customs and Special Taxes Delegation of Alicante, for possible administrative violations of smuggling, wildlife protection, and animal welfare regulations, which could result in sanctions ranging from 3,000 to more than 100,000 euros, depending on the applicable legislation.

Both species are listed under the CITES Convention on Conservation, which imposes a number of legal conditions for their possession. Furthermore, the Red-faced Parakeet is included in the Spanish Catalogue of Invasive Exotic Species, limiting its availability owing to the threat it causes to native biodiversity.

The Guardia Civil seized the opportunity to remind everyone that the possession and trade of protected species are governed by national and international legislation and that failing to comply jeopardises both biodiversity and the animals’ well-being. It also invited the public to report any information on illicit wildlife trafficking by calling 062 or using the AlertCops mobile app.

Two brothers have traded accusations, neither of whom has acknowledged responsibility. This is how the trial of three defendants accused of brutal robbery and sexual assault on a 19-year-old woman in Alicante ended on Friday, May 16th, at the High Court. The man suspected by the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution of being the culprit has blamed his brother, but the latter has identified him as the person who got out of the car with the three defendants and robbed a young woman after following her. The third defendant has revised his account of events in court and identified the accused brother as the offender.

The Prosecutor’s Office has recommended 16 years and six months in jail for one defendant accused of sexual assault and robbery with intimidation, as well as sentences of three years, six months, and one day for the other two defendants charged with robbery. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has also asked 71 euros in compensation for the victim’s stolen property, as well as 15,000 euros for moral damages.

The Third Section of the Alicante Court of Appeals will assess the evidence to determine the accused’s guilt or innocence. The hearing revealed that the three defendants, as they admitted in court, were travelling in the same car the night of the incident.

According to the prosecutor’s office’s charge, the incidents took place approximately 1:00 a.m. on July 11, 2023, in the Plaza Mar 2 shopping center’s outdoor car park. The victim ratified her complaint in court, and according to her account and that of the police officers from the Alicante Judicial Police’s Violent Crime Group who conducted the investigation, the defendants agreed to rob a young woman they saw walking with a bag along the Alfonso el Sabio extension.

After making a U-turn, one of the car’s occupants jumped out to pursue her on foot. When they drew close to the young woman, one of the car’s occupants stepped out, and she was assaulted in Plaza Mar 2’s outdoor car park. The young woman explained that she used that area as a shortcut on her way back home, and when she realised she was being followed, she turned around, saying, “They caught me from behind.”

The young woman alleges she attempted to push away the assailant, who was wearing a mask, and yelled for aid, but no one responded. He requested for her mobile phone and, after giving it to her, led her to a secluded location, where he snatched her credit card and 20 euros before sexually assaulting her. The woman reported that she was “scared,” and the attacker fled the scene with the money and phone. He drove around 400 metres before getting into the car with the other two defendants, who were waiting for him near the tram stop.

The National Police identified the car and the route followed after analysing video footage from the shopping centre’s cameras and the Traffic Department. The vehicle belonged to the father of the two brothers on trial, and one of them had been arrested many weeks prior for another sexual assault, though that case was eventually dismissed, according to sources from his defence team.

This resulted in the arrest of one of the two brothers, who first refused to acknowledge to any involvement in the crime, including being in the automobile. He then testified in court, admitting his culpability and recalling the events in full. At trial, he changed his tale again, claiming that it was his brother who stepped out of the car to rob the young woman, and that he pleaded guilty to protect his loved one because he needed to compete in a national judo championship.

The other brother, who also pleaded guilty in one of his statements following the arrest, stated in court that he only claimed responsibility for the heist since his brother was going to become a parent, and he identified a relative as the person who got out of the vehicle to steal it. Despite blaming the other sibling in court, the third defendant identified the latter as the robbery’s perpetrator.

The Prosecutor’s Office has maintained its accusations against the young man suspected of committing the sexual assault but has requested that the court testify against the other defendant if he is not proved to be the culprit. It has also maintained the three defendants’ robbery counts, despite the defence’s request for acquittal.