Some 350,000 traffic fines issued in 2021 by Palma town hall. | Teresa Ayuga

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Palma town hall's sustainable mobility department says that only 52% of drivers subject to fines issued in 2021 were notified. These were signed for by the individual or received by someone at the same address or collected.

National law from 2015 governing traffic offences established that two delivery attempts must be made within a period of three days and not at the same time of day. In the event that the person is not located or no one accepts the delivery, the town hall will then publish fines details in the Official Bulletin.

There were some 350,000 fines last year, and 48% were not notified. Around a half of these were returned because of incorrect address or not known at the address; the other half because no one was in. A consequence of this is that the fine can be increased - it will double if the offence was mild or treble if it was serious.

The councillor for sustainable mobility, Francesc Dalmau points to the difficulties his department has in changing the system and making it more effective. "The procedure is regulated by the traffic law and we cannot go against the regulations."