Seville's old quarter reopens to traffic

More than 7,000 traffic fines in Seville run the risk of remaining unpaid after the government of Mayor Juan Ignacio Zoido decided to abolish a plan that restricted motorists in the city's historical sector.

In explaining why the local Popular Party (PP) government decided to quash the surveillance-camera program without taking the issue to the city council, Zoido's spokesman Francisco Pérez told reporters: "This plan is full of irregularities."

Zoido announced this week that he was reopening Seville's historical center to private vehicles, rescinding the so-called "downtown plan" that went into effect under former Socialist Mayor Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín.

Opposition parties had demanded that Zoido present his proposal before the city council for a full debate. But the PP mayor on Wednesday wrote on his Twitter account: "The repeal of the plan is going forward by way of official communication, which is the only manner established by the rules to enable or repeal a measure like this. The previous government passed the ordinance with the city council's backing, but activated the plan through a resolution."

Repealing the measure by way of official communication means neither the opposition nor citizens' groups would be able to express their opinions about Zoido's revocation. Backing up his conclusion that the plan never worked from the start, his spokesman Francisco Pérez read from a report prepared by the city's chief traffic engineer, signed on July 22, that outlined a list of failures and shortcomings.

Among the deficiencies, the report points to an alleged "unreliability of the system", which Pérez, without further explanation on Tuesday, called "a fraud from start to finish.

The report doesn't say whether there had been any adjustments to the surveillance cameras during the testing period or whether the failures centered, above all, on errors in readings of vehicle license plates or other oversights.

Nevertheless, the repeal of the measure means that the government would stand to lose some 506,450 euros in revenue through non-collection or refunds of the 7,235 fines imposed in the seven months that the downtown plan was enforced, according to figures provided by the Seville government.

Hundreds of citizens' groups have also demanded that the Zoido government keep the center of Seville closed off to traffic.

After presenting the report, the government spokesman said that Zoido's proposal to eliminate the traffic restrictions in the old quarter was "a central issue of the campaign."

"We always said that we were planning to eliminate it. Why now are we going to initiate a process for dialogue?" Pérez asked.

Zoido was elected in May, ending 12 years of Socialist government in Seville.