Simon Wade
ORIHUELA Police carried out 53 regional checkpoints over the weekend to ensure perimeter closures were adhered to.
With Orihuela having well over 50,000 inhabitants, people had to have a legitimate reason to come or go from the city between 3pm on Friday, January 29, and 6am this morning, February 1.
Latest figures show the city has an official population of 76,778 (2018 data).
Ramón López, Councilor for Citizen Security, reported the numbers after the required enforcements in and out of Torrevieja from Friday afternoon.
He said, “I have worked with the Chief Intendant of the Valencian government, the Polica Nacional and the Guardia Civil and, as a result, we coordinated [perimeter closures] effectively.”
The local police headquarters allocated approximately 65 officers to move around and set up checkpoints at different places over the period.
On Friday, 15 roadblocks were established, with 26 fines given for perimeter closure time infractions.
Another 8 were handed out for people not wearing masks in vehicles while travelling with others that they don’t live with.
Saturday saw 20 checkpoints set up, with 72 fines for perimeter closure infractions, and another 13 for driving with non-family members.
On Sunday, 18 roadblocks resulted in 32 fines for perimeter closure infractions and one for occupants mixing with non-family members.
Sources revealed that most breaches of rules were down to people making shopping trips into the city.
López has joined with other cities in asking regional authorities to consider a more flexible protocol to allow for more police officers, as the usual tasks of staff are cannot be done
