Malaga electric scooter fines double as helmet violations soar to 1,900

A dozen electric scooter drivers on average receive fines in Malaga city every day. In the past year, the number of fines has doubled, but collecting them remains a challenge for the city council.

Spokesperson of municipal group Con Málaga Toni Morillas is asking that the revenue from scooter fines be reinvested in transport policies, with a particular focus on park-and-ride facilities, which are currently significantly delayed.

From 2,920 fines in the Local Police's registry in 2024, the number increased to 4,378 in 2025. According to the municipal security department, this proves a clear policy of greater control.

The priority, the department says, remains surveillance "on pavements and in pedestrian areas".

In addition, fines have increased in numbers since the helmet obligation. The contrast between 2024 and 2025 is striking: from 52 to 1,916 fines for drivers not wearing an approved helmet. The fine is 200 euros.

There is, however, a decrease in the number of fines for parking irregularities. The withdrawal of concessions to private scooter rental companies explains this drop from 835 to 165.

From the 2,920 offences detected in 2024, 439 concerned driving on pavements and in pedestrian areas; 403 for driving with two or more people on a scooter; and 251 for jumping traffic lights.

Following the no helmet fines, the most common infringements in 2025 concerned driving on pavements (430), two or more people on a scooter (340), jumping a red traffic light (243) and under-16s driving a scooter (128).

Collection of fines is very low within the voluntary payment window. In 2024, of the 797 fines processed by municpal tax collecting agency Gestrisam, totalling 149,674 euros, only 161 were paid before enforcement (16,430 euros). In 2025, only 88 drivers of the 575 paid in that period, which is a striking drop from 81,755 to 8,975 euros.

Regarding companies, there was naturally a sharp drop in fines from one year to the next due to the withdrawal of operating concessions. The number fell from 668 to 165 fines. In this case, voluntary payment collection was much more effective: 421 fines were paid in 2024 and 144 in 2025.

Morillas denounces the ruling team's lax policy. According to her, the data shows that the city council was "very lenient with electric scooter multinationals, allowing them to park illegally wherever they wanted with almost no pressure, except in the last few months when the decision was finally taken to ban them".

Morillas adds: "This turns the fines policy into more of a propaganda tool than an effective measure."

Finally, she demanded that all income from fines be dedicated entirely to sustainable transport policies, such as park-and-ride facilities, noting that none of the 5,000 promised spaces have been delivered.