Torrevieja City Council has joined the legal proceedings against an illegal street vendor arrested after allegedly assaulting a local police officer. On July 14th, officials requested an unusual measure: a restraining order prohibiting the vendor from entering the area of the Juan Aparicio promenade where, according to the Councillor for Security, Federico Alarcón, the incidents are concentrated. Faced with a difficult security problem, the City Council is seeking this alternative to provide new tools to try to reduce its impact.
The measure aims to prevent the suspect from returning to the same area in Torrevieja where he engages in illegal sales and where the police operation took place. As Alarcón explained, the man was arrested, brought before a judge, and released. Immediately upon his release, he returned to the same spot on the promenade and again threatened the police officers present, even mentioning the officer he had assaulted.
The City Council is not proposing an order for the entire municipality or the entire waterfront. The request is limited to a specific area and for a specific period, which the judge will have to determine if the measure is approved. That is where the problems are arising, the councillor summarised. The decision for the City Council to intervene was made at the last local government meeting.
Alarcón argues that the measure can help break a recurring pattern in Torrevieja. The idea is that if the person under investigation returns to the location despite the prohibition, they could be in violation of the court order, which would increase the criminal penalty.
The councilman compared the formula to that already used by some private companies, such as supermarkets, when dealing with repeat shoplifters. In those cases, in addition to filing a report for the specific theft, the perpetrator is barred from the establishment for a period of time.
The initiative arose during working meetings between the Local Police, the Guardia Civil, the courts, Social Services, and the Torrevieja Hospital. Alarcón explained that all parties have collaborated on an internal protocol to coordinate actions regarding recurring problems such as squatting, illegal street vending, and situations involving individuals who may require medical or social intervention.
According to the councilman, this document was not conceived as a public announcement, but rather as a practical tool to inform each administration how to proceed, what it can request, and what support it can expect from the others. Within this framework, the possibility of the Public Prosecutor’s Office requesting restraining orders was considered, and if it did not, the possibility of the City Council appearing in person to request them directly.
According to Alarcón, the senior judge considered this possibility viable in general, although each specific case must be analysed afterward. In this particular case, the Torrevieja City Council believes there is a clear pattern of repeated offenses: illegal sales at the same location, assault at that same spot, arrest, and immediate return to the area after being released.
The city’s objective is to explore an alternative legal avenue given the limited scope offered by current regulations to prevent the same individuals from repeatedly returning to their usual illegal sales locations. Illegal sales are typically penalised as an administrative infraction for operating without a licence, while the sale of counterfeit goods is a crime, though proof is required and penalties are reduced, taking into account the frequency of the offence.
The decision will now depend on the legal proceedings and whether the judge agrees to include the restraining order. Alarcón explained that these types of measures are being adopted, for example, with repeat offenders who commit shoplifting in supermarkets. Violating their sentence exposes them to a much greater criminal risk than the theft itself.
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