! Murcia Today – Murcia steps up police patrols to tackle illegal motorcycle racing

Street racing would take place every night in Nueva Condomina and La Fuensanta, Murcia

Locals say rallies and races are held every night on the access road to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fuensanta, Algezares, posing a “serious and dangerous” problem.

A concerned woman wrote on social media: “They are driving at high speed on a section limited to 30 km/h, endangering the safety of neighbors and their own, and preventing people from resting.”

The problem is not new, illegal racing has apparently been going on for years, and the aftermath of complaints, particularly over Halloween weekend, has compelled the local police to act by “increasing their vigilance to put an end to this type of gatherings of motorbikes and cars,” according to Murcia City Hall sources.

From Saturday evening to Sunday morning, the gathering and noise was so unbearable that residents filmed dozens of runners in the Juan de Borbó area and shared them.

“It’s unbearable, they circulate at brutal speed, make a huge noise and even rear up,” says a neighbor.

Another pointed out that the runners were “in disguise, spinning and jumping traffic lights, risking their lives and those of other drivers and pedestrians”.

The dangerous races are not isolated from the town centre: residents of La Alberca and Algezares say gatherings of motorbikes are “a constant problem” and warn “local police should be more vigilant”, given that “the traffic and noise are intolerable”.

In a statement, the city council replied: “The local police have set up prevention services in Nueva Condomina and Fuensanta, where the presence of motorcycle groups has been detected, through social networks and warnings from neighbors.”

She added that “thanks to prevention” these concentrations “have been dissolved”, despite locals saying otherwise.

The Special Public Security Group (GESC) of the local police of Murcia is in charge of controlling these gatherings and reminded that “it is not a crime to meet with other bikers or to ride together”.

However, riders can be fined if, for example, they leave their vehicle parked in an area where it is prohibited or if they are caught committing a traffic safety offence.

Image: Murcia Local Police