British tourists have been warned over a new fine of more than £2,500 in a popular Spanish seaside city. Alicante has announced it will be fining tourists and folk living in the city 3,000 euros for failing to pick up dog poo after warnings the “uncivil behaviour” is on the rise.
City cleaning teams are said to pick up 73 tons of excrement every year, with the council saying it has become a “serious problem” which damages the clean image of the area.
The FCC cleaning contractor collects around 200 kilos of dog waste each day from all corners of the city, with the worst hit parts being the urban area, Muchavista, and the northern part of the municipality.
The contractor says it finds the waste on roads, pavements, parks and gardens in “all shapes and sizes”.
It has led to the council appealing to dog owners to use plastic bags to pick up the mess which can be disposed of in plastic bins scattered around the city.
The council’s maintenance and services councillor, Rafa Galvan, says 270,000 poo bags are quickly taken from the city’s 36 dispensers but are rarely used.
He said: “People certainly take them but many simply choose to leave their pets’ excrement on public roads.”
Fines are between 100 and 3,000 euros, but so far only a dozen cases have been filed in the last year by the Policia Local, as officers need to catch a dog ‘in the act’ with an owner not doing anything about the mess.
The council is in the process of changing the law based on last year’s national Animal Welfare Law to allow more flexibility to allow police to take action.
It is also planning extra patrols in areas with particular fouling issues.
It comes after British tourists travelling to Tenerife were warned they would be fined £1,300 for feeding pigeons.
