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Date Published: 15/08/2023

Tourists fined 200 euros for buying dodgy gear from Costa Blanca street vendors

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Torrevieja has launched a campaign warning holidaymakers not to buy goods from illegal sellers

Tourists fined 200 euros for buying dodgy gear from Costa Blanca street vendors

Bagging a bargain leather handbag or pair of designer sunglasses is all part of a holiday on Alicante’s Costa Blanca, but in Torrevieja authorities are cracking down on unlicensed street vendors who target unsuspecting tourists with their knock-off goods.

The City Council has lunched a new summer campaign warning holidaymakers that they will be fined 200 euros if they’re caught buying dodgy clothes, accessories or other items from a top manta – so-called because they usually ply their wares from on top of a blanket, or manta in Spanish.

"It is one more step than what we have been taking in the fight against the top manta," explained Federico Alarcón, Councillor for Police, Security and Emergencies.

The population of Torrevieja increases fivefold in summer, which is why the powers that be have decided to "not only to attack the supply, but also the demand," by imposing fines on tourists who give illegal vendors their business.

"Before, we went exclusively to look for the mantero with the Local Police or Guardia Civil, seizing the counterfeit objects," added Mr Alarcón, who acknowledged that unlawful street selling is "a problem in all the tourist cities on the coast."

The campaign has already been widely publicised through social media ads, LED screen advertising and posters in local establishments, which are printed in both Spanish and English.

An important “part of the job,” the councillor concluded, “is to be able to inform the citizen, and especially the tourist, who may not have knowledge.”

In other news: 2-year-old French girl drowns in Denia swimming pool

Image: Ayuntamiento de Torrevieja on Facebook

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