It’s a dog’s life for mutt owners in Almuñécar – or at least for 16 of them, who have all been fined 150 euros for ‘unsolicited manure deliveries.’ But is not only the poop landmines that can get you fined; not having the dog on a lead in public or letting it onto the beach, whether it is on a lead or not, will cost you the same.

The councillor in charge of the local police (whom we shall be talking about a little later on in the section) says that it is not about obtaining money, but about keeping the town clean, as a ‘clean town,’ the said Councillor, Mª Dolores Sánchez Montes, emphasised, ‘is the chore of each and every one of its citizens.’

She criticises the laxity or ‘passiveness’ shown by certain locals, saying, “Everybody likes to have a pet; dogs are very affectionate and faithful, but you can’t have a dog and let it run free on the beaches, leaving ‘deposits’ that are not cleaned up.”

Article 33 of the municipal by-laws states: persons who lead dogs or other animals along public streets and pavements are obligated to prevent them [the pets] from leaving deposits on public spaces destined for pedestrian traffic, and if this cannot be avoided then the affected area must be cleaned. It is forbidden for such animals to enter parks and gardens or feed abandoned animals. The fines for such transgressions range from between 50 and 600 euros.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)