The speed camera that issues the most fines in Catalonia: "I have to pay more than 2,000 euros."

Girona50,553 fines in four months This is the number of fines recorded by a new radar installed at the entrance to La Jonquera (Alt Empordà) between October 21, 2024, and February 20, 2025. The City Council of this border municipality installed it last October in a municipally managed section of the road. The radar is located on a straight road with two lanes in each direction, between two roundabouts, in a commercial area with supermarkets and department stores on both sides of the road. Every day, it detects more than 400 violations, making it the radar with the most penalties in Catalonia.

The device fines drivers who exceed 60 km/h on a road where they usually travel at a higher speed, coming from the national highway, where speeds can be as high as 80 or 90 km/h. Many of those fined are residents of La Jonquera, home to 3,300 people, or from neighboring towns, as the most common traffic on this road is local vehicles traveling—sometimes more than once a day—to work or shopping. Until recently, many were unaware that there was a radar on that section.

Those affected report that most have accumulated 7 or 8 penalties, although some have had 20 or 30 in a row because they were unaware that speed limits were required on this section until they received the first notice. And they add that they arrive weeks late. Diego Montero is one of the most punished drivers, with 23 fines he began receiving since January 31st, corresponding to the months of November, December, and January. "The mailman arrived in a daze with a mountain of fines for me and the rest of the neighbors. It's not normal. It's more than 2,000 euros, and I can't pay them all at once. I've reached an agreement to pay 400 now and 240 each month, but it's a lot of money," says Montero.

"I've been getting them for 20 years and I didn't even know."

Most fines are for speeding 10 km/h over the speed limit, with a penalty of 100 euros, multiplied by the number of times the violation has been committed. If paid within 20 days, the price is halved, but if payment is late, the amount increases with interest. "Of course, it's also my fault for going over 60 km/h, but I've been traveling on this road for twenty years and I didn't know that. Now I'm going 40 km/h, but the problem is that the fines came out of nowhere and we've had to swallow them," explains Montero.

That's why the residents of the area have organized under the name Stop Radar La Jonquera, with the aim of putting pressure on the City Council to reconsider installing the radar and waive all fines. The group criticizes the fact that the speed control is not well-signed on the road; which, according to them, was installed without properly notifying the public and that if the fines had arrived within one or two weeks they could have avoided a lot of fines. The independent body of the Girona Provincial Council, Xaloc, manages the radar after a public tender and issues its fines.

Margarita Sáez, from La Jonquera, is another of those affected. She is retired, but usually drives to Figueres to go shopping or take care of her father-in-law. At the beginning of January, she received 14 fines corresponding to previous months. "I don't disagree with the radar being installed, but I do complain about the lack of information, signage, and poor practice when sending the fines, after a month or so. It's horrendous," she criticizes. Sáez assures that she has been paying them all, as she received them, "because thank God" she can, but warns: "I don't know how a person who is short of money will do it."

Since they received the first notifications in their mailboxes, neighbors like Margarita and Diego are already on alert and reduce their speed, or, just in case, they directly change routes and go on the highway, even though it is very full of trucks.

Poorly signposted road to request the annulment

The members of Stop Radar La Jonquera are appealing to a structural defect in the radar to have it removed and declared invalid. The reason is that, according to the Spanish government's road inventory, this is an urban stretch where the speed limit should be 50 km/h. However, the road sign indicates the 60 km/h limit, so drivers assumed it was not yet an urban road and were easily traveling at a higher speed. "If they drive us at 60 km/h, it means the road is poorly signposted, and everything built on top of it, like the radar, should be removed," argues Albert Cantenys, a member of Stop Radar La Junquera, who has also received several fines.

The mayor of La Jonquera, Míriam Lanero, in an extraordinary plenary session held this week, refused to reconsider the case and asserted that the fines and radar remain in place, stating that she has only issued fines for 2% of the 20,000 vehicles that pass through there every day. At the plenary session, the opposition Esquerra (Revolutionary Left) and PSC (Socialist Workers' Party) groups approved a motion to support the residents' demands, but the municipal government remains firm in its decision.

Anna Pérez (ERC), leader of the opposition, believes that the radar was clearly installed to raise revenue and not to improve road safety on this road. "We're surprised that the municipal budget included a forecast of more than €2 million in revenue from this radar. If the goal is truly to ensure the safety of the area, there are much more effective measures, such as traffic lights, signs, and pedestrian crossings," he says.