Since the start of the corona crisis, the Spanish police have already issued nearly 750,000 fines to people who have broken the corona rules. These are mostly people who were outside, while they had to stay inside. The Spanish national ombudsman has opened an inquiry.
These violations are against a civil security law introduced in 2015. In the forty days since the start of the outbreak in Spain, the police have issued as many fines under this law as in the period between 2015 and 2018, the daily reports El País.
The law is controversial and has been criticized by Amnesty International, among others, because it can make the work of journalists more difficult, for example. In addition, citizens can also be fined if, for example, they take a photo of an agent and share it on social media. Even if the agent is in violation.
For example, she became a woman in 2015 fined for the distribution of a photo of a cop who had parked in a disabled place.
Ombudsman conducts inquiries
The Spanish Ombudsman already announced one last week research according to the state of affairs. He calls the number of fines issued disproportionate and questions the criteria that the police use during the corona crisis.
He urges to amend the controversial law so that some relatively innocent acts of citizens cannot be punished.
The fines amount to many hundreds or even thousands of euros. It is also hardly possible for citizens to object to the fines.
Spain has eased the lockdown somewhat
Spain eased the measures somewhat last weekend. Children have been allowed to play outside for the first time in six weeks since Sunday. Spain’s lockdown was one of the strictest in Europe.
However, strict rules still apply. The children are not allowed to go outside for more than an hour a day and they must stay within 1 kilometer of their home. Children should also wear a mouth mask if they get a breath of fresh air. Playgrounds and parks are still off limits.
Spain is one of the most severely affected European countries by the corona virus. In the country, 22,902 corona patients have now died and the number of confirmed infections rose to 223,759 on Saturday.
The lockdown was implemented on March 14. Spaniards are only allowed to go outside if they have good reason to do so. For example, they can go shopping or get medicines. So now children can also go outside under supervision.
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