A national daily stated that Almuñécar had racked in more than a million euros in traffic fines – the Town Hall denies this.

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The article published in the ABC, which was later reproduced by other dailies, stated that Almuñécar had accrued 1,100,000 euros in this manner, which worked out at 40.16 euros per inhabitant.

The Councillor for Traffic, Juan José Ruiz Joya, a man with many hats, quickly published a report issued by the Municipal Traffic Section showing the official figures for fines of this nature – vastly inferior to the amount claimed – at least for 2015, however 2011 was indeed over a million. It is also worth remembering that in 2009 the handling of traffic fines was privatized in Almuñécar, which was a controversial move.

The Councillor also pointed out that the calculation used by the ABC did not take into account the different nature of municipalities; i.e., tourist towns compared to normal hinterland ones. Councillor Ruiz Joya explained that only 36% of the fines during 2014 fell upon Almuñécar residents.

Editorial comment: Perhaps he wasn’t aware that he was therefor also stating that 67% of the fines hit tourists; i.e, the very people that the town is constantly spending money on at tourism fairs to attract.

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