A study of the rates of the municipal crane carried out by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) reveals differences of up to 300%, around four times more, for example between the 205.35 euros in Zaragoza or the 198.00 in Barcelona and the 54.84 of Ávila or the 50.88 of Melilla.
The study has verified what the city councils of 54 cities (the provincial capitals, plus Ceuta, Melilla, Gijón and Vigo) charge for the removal of a vehicle by the tow truck and its subsequent custody for 25 hours.
According to the OCU, which concludes that “many city councils find in the vehicle withdrawal and deposit fee an easy way to increase collection”, the towing service and 25 hours of deposit cost an average of 117 euros, but there are enormous differences between the cities.
After Zaragoza and Barcelona, Madrid (185.95 euros), Valencia (170.97), Vitoria (165.78), Toledo (160.07), San Sebastián (160.00), Logroño (159, 12), A Coruña (155.09), Lleida (154.20), Córdoba (148.00), Huesca (142.91), Castelló de la Plana (142.40), Vigo (141.75), Palma (141.10) and Pontevedra (132.15 euros).
Also above the average are Seville (131.40 euros), Cádiz (131.00), Bilbao (127.98), Albacete (127.74), Murcia (127.31), Alicante (122.79) and Tarragona (119.58) and immediately below Valladolid (115.85), Granada (113.38), Lugo (109.69), Segovia (108.70), Girona (108.00), Pamplona (106.60 ) and Salamanca (105.50 euros).
The cheapest are Palencia (104.55 euros), Soria (104.00), Cáceres (103.80), Jaén (102.10), Santander (100.00), Oviedo (97.69), Málaga (97 .55), Las Palmas (92.95), Ceuta (91.03), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (89.55), Almería (88.00), Gijón (89.55), Burgos (87.00, Teruel (84.00), Cuenca (83.00), Zamora (82.90), Ourense (82.50), León (82.20), Guadalajara (79.95), Badajoz (69.00), Ciudad Real (68.51) and Huelva (65.50), as well as Ávila and Melilla.
The Traffic and Road Safety Law, recalls the consumer organization in an informative note made public this Tuesday, indicates that vehicles can be removed from public roads by the City Council when they constitute a danger, cause disturbances to circulation, or are parked improperly.
This municipal withdrawal service has an average cost of 99.04 euros, but the differences are extreme in cities that, such as Zaragoza (180 euros), Barcelona (173 euros) and San Sebastián (160 euros), apply a much higher rate than the “reasonable” cost of that service by a private company, says OCU.
In addition, the custody of the vehicle in the municipal offices until its withdrawal by the owner adds in many other cities an “extra penalty” by applying a large part of the deposits, rates for full days.
Thus, while private car parks must charge exclusively for the real time the service is provided, 47 of the 54 municipal depots analyzed bill for full days, “artificially” increasing the bill for this service, such as Soria (46 euros) or La Coruña. (56 euros).
