UK tourists in Spain to be hit with instant £170 fines for breaking shopping rules

Emily Chaplin & Kris Gourlay

2 June 2024 at 3:59 am·2-min read

tourists in spain — -Credit: (Image: Getty Images)

Those jetting off to Spain this summer have been issued a warning about purchasing goods from unlicensed traders.

Police have been patrolling the streets of Costa Blanca and handing out on the spot fines of up to £170 to holidaymakers buying items such as sunglasses, handbags and watches.

The crackdown is part of a new undercover operation by police with unsuspecting shoppers often falling victim to illegal street vendors due to their rock-bottom prices, reports Birmingham Live.

Officers in plain-clothing have been conducting patrols in popular tourist hotspots throughout the peak summer holiday period and have caught people buying from unlicensed 'manteros'.

The sellers are known locally in Spain as manteros or 'top mantas' because they often ply their wares from the top of blankets laid out in the street. Recently, the Guardia Civil seized several tonnes of counterfeit products from a warehouse in Alicante that were intended for street sellers.

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The mayor of Torrevieja, a busy city on the Costa Blanca, has requested an increase in police numbers this summer to enforce the rules. At the height of summer, the city's population more than doubles to around 500,000, according to Alicante Today.

Calls have also been made in Spain's Costa del Sol to impose tougher sanctions on shoppers who buy from so-called 'looky looky men'. The roaming street vendors can often be seen selling trinkets, clothes and counterfeit gear to sunbathers on Spain's beaches, but many are doing so illegally without a licence.

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The local Association of Traders and Businessmen claims that genuine shopkeepers in the coastal town of Benalmadena are losing between 20 and 30 per cent of their earnings to the rogue salesmen.

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