Two fines per day in Malaga city for urinating in the street

In six months, the police have fined 350 people, more than 90% in Malaga city centre, under a new bylaw. Sanctions are also in place for not carrying soapy water to dilute dog urine or picking up faeces

Chus Heredia

Friday, 7 June 2024, 16:43

A new 'coexistence' bylaw came into force in Malaga at the end of November last year. Much was said about noise, decorum with regard to clothing and stag and hen parties, but the regulation includes other everyday uncivil behaviour that can prove very costly for offenders. The part of the law relating to urinating in public is already being enforced by the Local Police in different proportions.

This can be seen by the data compiled by SUR from the weekly reports on compliance with the ordinance issued by the city council's security department. The number of sanctions are probably relatively few in proportion to the phenomena they are intended to curb, but certainly serve as an example.

Article 15, on rules of conduct, forbids "the performance of physiological needs, such as defecating, urinating and spitting, in any of the spaces defined in article 2 of this ordinance". The defined spaces include all kinds of elements, façades, pavements, parks, infrastructures. The fine can be minor, up to 300 euros. But it can be serious, reaching 1,500 euros if such behaviour is carried out "in crowded areas frequented by people or minors, or when occuring in food markets, monuments, or classified or protected buildings, or in adjacent public spaces". And, beware, minors are not exempt.

Fines for urinating in the street rare outside the centre

Since the bylaw came into effect, the Local Police have fined 350 people for urinating in the street, 90% of them in Malaga city centre. In other words, two people caught per day. Streets such as Tomás de Cózar, Aventurero, Marqués de Guadiaro, Ramón Franquelo, Pito, Lazcano, Marqués de Valdecañas, Calderería and many others have been the locations of this uncivil behaviour.

It is rare that there are fines outside the centre, but there are only around thirty in the last six months.

Pets

Article 19, also referring to rules of conduct, mentions the obligation to pick up dog faeces and to carry water with a soapy solution to dilute urine in the street. The sanctions range from 75 to 500 euros and are applied to the maximum extent when they take place in parks and gardens, pedestrian streets, areas with a large number of people or adjacent to educational and health centres.

The new bylaw for the "guarantee of citizen coexistence and the protection of urban space in the city of Malaga", which was published on 15 November last year, has garnered significant attention, particularly regarding issues such as stag and hen parties.

In the six months since coming into effect, fines relating to pets have not been too numerous: 29 were handed to owners who did not carry the bottle with the sanitising liquid or did not use it at the appropriate time and 17 for not picking up faeces in a bag.

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