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ARCHIVED - More than a million covid-related fines issued in Spain since the pandemic began
Police have also made 12,125 arrests, according to a report from the Spanish Interior Ministry.
Data from the Interior Ministry published one year on from the start of the first state of alarm called in Spain due to Covid-19 has revealed that more than one million fines have been issued for breaking the rules during this period.
9,173 arrests were also made during the first national state of alarm, between 14 March and 21 June 2020, and 2,952 during the second national state of alarm, which came into effect on 26 October 2020 and remains in force.
Altogether, 1,142,127 fines were issued across Spain during the first state of alarm and 220,296 during the second. However, less than 1 per cent of these fines have actually been processed by the government delegations responsible for doing so due to a massive backlog.
It is unlikely that most of the fines will ever be paid as the resources required to enforce them are so limited.
The majority of the fines were issued for non-compliance with lockdowns and mobility restrictions or in application of the controversial 2015 Citizen Security Law, or ‘Gagging Law’ as it is commonly known.
Although the current government had promised to repeal the law, they have yet to do so.
The ministry’s report also outlined other activities the police and state security forces had carried out over the year, including efforts to guarantee the correct functioning of the coronavirus vaccine supply chain, 154,000 humanitarian assistance activities, 30,000 contacts with care homes and associations for the elderly, 336,000 actions to protect victims of gender violence and 20,500 actions at medical centres.