The Almuñécar municipal police arrested a man who was sitting inside a parked car on the Paseo de Blas Infante. That’s the Friday-market square, if you are in any doubt.

The arrest took place after the police had been checking a vehicle with UK plates and found that they were not currently valid.

Inside the car were several people, amongst them children. When the police asked for the car docs in order to write out a fine, they were informed by the driver that he didn’t have them.

At this point several other people from other foreign-registered, parked cars approached, according to the police, claiming to be relatives.

So the police set about getting everybody’s ID, all of which was accepted at face value except for that of one person, who had handed over a Slovenian driving licence, ID card and passport. They suspected that it was all false.

He was taken to the police station just around the corner from the square, where the documents received closer attention using specialized equipment – it all turned out to be false, as suspected.

Consequently, 36-year-old I.R was arrested for personal document forgery and handed over to the Guardia Civil for a good tweaking… just joking. Forgery comes under criminal law, so it falls within Guardia Civil jurisdiction.

In the meantime, the municipal police towed away the four vehicles belonging to the group who had all claimed to be relatives, as all the car docs were considered suspect.

The Chief of Local Police pointed out that the arrest had been made thanks to the special training that officers under his command had received on personal identity and vehicle documents.

Editorial comment: gone are the days when you could drive around brandishing Mickey-Mouse driving licences at foreign-language-allergic police officers and get away with it *Sigh!*

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