Walter Finch
A MALAGA resident was fined after police caught him spray-painting a giant penis around a pothole that had been plaguing his neighbourhood for years.
Ricky Navarro, 49, from Carranque, was nabbed red-handed by local police as he filmed himself in the act of vandalising a pedestrian crossing outside his home on Monday afternoon.
However, in a somewhat predictable twist of fate, the pothole – which Navarro had been dodging for years – was repaired just 48 hours later.
The motorcyclist had reached breaking with the ‘gaping hole’ in the tarmac at the junction of Virgen de la Paloma and Virgen de la Cabeza streets.
He admitted he was inspired by ‘Wansky’, an anonymous British graffiti artist who paints giant penises over potholes across Manchester to shame councils into repairing them.
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“I’m a biker, I have a Harley and I know the danger that potholes represent,” Navarro explained.
“A friend of mine lost a leg because of one of them. That’s why I decided to do something.”
Unfortunately for Navaroo, his timing couldn’t have been worse.
Just as he was recording his protest for TikTok around 3.30pm, a Malaga Policia Local patrol happened to drive past.
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Officers found him with his mobile phone in one hand and the spray can in the other, surrounded by his freshly painted artwork.
Navarro, who admitted he’d ‘had a bad day’ at work before his impromptu protest, was surprisingly philosophical about being caught.
“They were very nice,” he said of the police, adding with characteristic Spanish humour: “The first graffiti of my life and they catch me. I’m no good at being a criminal.”
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The unfortunate timing has landed him with a fine of more than €250 for violating the public coexistence ordinance regarding vandalism of public spaces.
His viral TikTok video, meanwhile, has drawn attention to both his plight and the ongoing pothole problem.
The incident highlights the frustration many Spanish residents feel about deteriorating road infrastructure, particularly in residential areas where repairs can take months or even years to complete.
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