Iona Napier
A FURIOUS mother-of-two is in shock after police handed her a €200 fine because they couldn’t read her car number plate.
The Guardia Civil stopped Spaniard Mirian Moreno, 31, at a Sabinillas roundabout and fined her on the spot.
The number plate, seen by the Olive Press, was slightly bent but letters and numbers were identifiable to read 0624 HJY.
“I am absolutely livid,” out-of-pocket Moreno told the Olive Press.
“I will be appealing the fine, as I informed the officer that I had just been driven into and had not yet had the chance to replace the number plate.”
Although it is well-known that in both Spain and the UK it is a legal requirement to have a legible number plate, the question remains as to whether this mother’s car qualified as ‘illegible’.
If you appeal a traffic fine in Spain and lose, you have to pay a bigger fine, so around 1% of Spaniards appeal their penalties, preferring to pay up.
“If you have a vehicle, your plate numbers must be in perfect conditions, it is the law, and in most European countries you must keep your plate number in good condition,” said a representative from traffic website N332.
This Police action is what sociologist Pierre Bourdieu called “symbolic terrorism”, meant to keep the public aware of who is in charge.
On the other hand, with the amount of unethical anarchy and the popular “I’ll do what I want” attitude, maybe a strong hand, though not abusive of public trust, is necessary
“When governments fear the people there is liberty. When people fear the goverment there is tyranny.”
I believe the second part applies to Spain emphatically. The people of Spain need to wake up and realise that the goverment of their country is here to serve them, including their macho, stutting, not too intelligent cops.
Venture an hour inland and see a different world. Cars are not even road legal, let alone having perfect number plates. Up in the small villages there are essentially no laws for drivers. Seatbelts, road tax? Just ignore. The traffic police in Spain only function on main roads lol.
Why is it so important “she is a mother” that you have to mention it 3 of the 5 times you refer to the lady? I hope you aren’t inferring that somehow that makes her deserve special consideration.
Peter,
well said but I think your comment applies equally to the UK as well. Using under cover scumbags to infiltrate completely peaceful organisations – at the public expense and the same vermin getting women pregnant and disappearing – at the public expense. A police chief junta that operates totally outside any law – yep it applies to use as well.
Fred, I have seen Guardia doing sweet nothing being passed by 3-up on motos. Red lights totally ignored. Watched cars stopped without lights, drivers drunk BUT they were friends and family of the Guardia – all completely normal.
Stewart Crawford – I don’t understand why you have decided to bring the conversation around to the UK when we are discussing a real Spanish issue. Anyone who has lived in Spain for any length of time knows there is no comparison between the British police and the ill trained and ignorant Spanish ‘police’.
Please stay on topic.
Police officially refuse to hire applicants with high IQ scores because they are more likely to quit; more likely to challenge departmental protocols. This is a BIG issue in the USA.
After earning an advanced degree in emergency medicine (EMT; nursing), but before getting his PhD in medical education, my son joined a police department to get public safety policy experience. He also joined the fire department, where he found open-minded, well-trained guys. He quit the PD, but still works as an EMT volunteer in the fire department.
The police department was filled with pumped-up, macho ex-military guys who valued power over others more than civic justice.
From the public’s standpoint – in Spain and elsewhere -, its the recruitment standards that are bad
looks to me as thought the Guardia should get their peoples eyes tested mote often.
Ian: Or preferably, their morals, ethics and honesty.