Guardia Civil strikes deal with Marbella Local Police

Marbella Town Hall, the Provincial Traffic Authority and the Costa del Sol Council have renewed their agreement to optimize traffic flow and improve safety along the A-7 Motorway. 

The deal designates the A-7’s urban junctions, including those near the La Cañada shopping centre where the A-7 merges with the faster AP-7, as under the jurisdiction of the Marbella Local Police. The Guardia Civil oversees the acceleration and braking lanes on motorways.

The stretch near La Cañada, where the A-7 and AP-7 converge for several kilometres, is notorious for frequent accidents due to the speed disparity between the 80 km/h A-7 road and the faster AP-7 traffic. Also, the A-7 section passing Puerto Banús and San Pedro de Alcántara is plagued by constant traffic jams, and even more so during the busy summer season.

The agreement also includes a plan that visually defines areas of responsibility. Both forces are intensifying their patrols in order to increase safety along the heavily congested road. In Spain, normally, local police patrol only local roads in urban areas, and the Guardia Civil is responsible for the motorways. Marbella is a place where the lines between police and guardia civil are blurred.

Aida Vilaret expressed her satisfaction at the new agreement and said it would “optimize traffic control”. Marbella’s mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, highlighted the “fluid collaboration” with the Traffic Authority to address the municipality’s most problematic traffic zones.