Palma.One thousand fines were handed out to motorists of between 100 and 1'500 euros as a result of the regular vehicle controls and 60 vehicles were seized for a variety of reasons such as not having insurance, technical faults or other irregularities in the driver's documentation.
The Calvia Traffic unit, which consists of five motorcycle highway patrol officers and an official, carry out the controls in association with the Balearic government's transport inspection department.
But, apart from carrying out the vehicle inspection controls, the highway patrol carries out a host of other police duties, such as prevention controls to increase citizen security.
But, there are rumours circulating that the special patrol could be either disbanded or fully integrated with the Local Police force as part of the planned future reconstruction of Calvia's Local Police.
Bad news
The news has not been well received by residents, the local business community and the tourist sector. Calvia hoteliers maintain that the patrol, carries out a very important and effective job, despite its size.
A number of local taxi drivers said that the near daily controls serve to catch and weed out the illegal minicab and pirate taxi drivers and therefore the patrol serves to protect their livelihoods and crackdown on the illegal competition.
Illegal excursion
They also intercept coaches carrying out illegal excursions.
For the moment, the patrol's future appears secure for the year ahead but the long term doubts remain.
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