Vélez-Málaga installs 12 new cameras to monitor traffic and fly-tipping

The footage will be managed from the control centre located at the Local Police headquarters. The initiative has involved the installation of 12 new cameras, with ten initially earmarked for traffic monitoring and the other two for areas with rubbish containers.

The ten cameras intended for traffic monitoring will be distributed across Vélez-Málaga, Torre del Mar, Benajarafe and Caleta de Vélez. In Vélez-Málaga, they will be situated on Camino de Remanentes, Camino de Torrox, Avenida Vivar Téllez and the El Ingenio roundabout on Avenida Rey Juan Carlos I. In Torre del Mar, there will be cameras at the roundabout by the football ground, on Río Seco, Cipriano Maldonado Jiménez and Avenida Andalucía. The remaining cameras will be at Campo de la Iglesia in Benajarafe, and at the roundabout at Caleta harbour.

The mayor, Jesús Lupiáñez, spoke in favour of the expansion during a visit to the Local Police headquarters on Tuesday 29 September.

“Safety and community harmony are also improved by providing resources to those who have to work every day to safeguard them,” he said.

According to the mayor, the network “has already proved its worth” and the new equipment is intended to expand the information available on traffic and incidents on public roads.

The second area of focus will be the monitoring of fly-tipping near rubbish bins. The town hall is installing two cameras on Camino de la Caleta, at the entrance to Baviera and another two at Puerta de Granada, in Vélez-Málaga.

The Local Police and the town hall's environment department have chosen both locations because, according to the town hall, there have been repeated instances of unauthorised waste dumping. The footage may be used to detect offences and, where appropriate, to initiate the relevant legal proceedings.

The monitoring of the bins will also be supported by ten IoT sensors, which will provide real-time information on their fill levels and trigger alerts. The town hall's aim is to use this data to adjust collection routes and frequencies where necessary. The environmental project has a budget of 48,358 euros, including VAT, covering cameras, 4G communications, lighting, a public address system, sensors and twelve months’ maintenance.

The expansion builds on a project that began in April 2024, when the town hall agreed to allocate 50,000 euros from the participatory budgeting scheme to set up a municipal CCTV network. At the time, the town hall justified the move on the grounds that cameras were needed at strategic locations to help prevent theft and vandalism and to facilitate police work.

The first cameras were installed in April 2025, coinciding with the town's Holy Week. From the outset, the system was designed with a dual purpose: to monitor traffic and to support safety in areas with high footfall or where incidents had previously occurred.

The town hall maintains that these devices have proved particularly useful during events involving large crowds. Lupiáñez cites Holy Week, Christmas and the Noche en Vela festival as examples and believes that the next phase will enable the technology to be extended from security and traffic management to other municipal services, such as waste management.

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