The Almuñécar police moved in during the Friday Market this week to confiscate a dozen pieces of illegal ivory. The stall owner could not demonstrate that he had obtained them legally.

The Guardia Civil had simply demanded to see official bills of receipt and CITES certificates – he had neither. He explained that he had bought them at several different street markets over a period of time and no type of bill or receipt had been given.

The law states that exotic flora or fauna, nor parts of them, nor their derivatives can be traded in. The Washington Convention or CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) finally banned the ivory trade in October 1990, despite opposition from southern African states.

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