So-called ‘looky looky’ sellers have been synonymous with beach holidays across Spain for decades.
They offer cheap, knock-off designer handbags, sunglasses and trainers along many a beach promenade, but Marbella police are warning that these bargains are anything but harmless.
According to the Policía Local, the sale of counterfeit goods has reached ‘unsustainable levels’ in the resort, with more than 37,000 fake products seized so far this year – a sharp rise on 2024’s figure of 26,668.
Officers say the boom in illegal street vending is being fuelled by a ‘permissive attitude’ that has turned the practice into ‘a losing battle’ across the Costa del Sol.
A growing black market
Police estimate that around 100 unauthorised vendors operate daily between the Marbella Marina, the town centre and Las Chapas, offering fake luxury brands to tourists.
Raids this year along the promenade and ports of Virgen del Carmen, Puerto Banus and Cabopino resulted in more than 12,000 items confiscated, over 8,000 of them counterfeit.
Municipal spokesman Felix Romero said the problem isn’t just about street clutter or tourism image.
‘We cannot allow fake replicas to spread, not only because of the damage to Marbella’s reputation as a luxury destination, but also to the businesses who operate legally,’ he said earlier this summer.
Officers are now urging both residents and visitors to stop buying counterfeit goods, stressing that every purchase feeds a criminal economy built on fraud and exploitation.
‘Behind every fake product there’s fraud, exploitation and job loss,’ the police said in a statement. ‘Buying counterfeits is not a bargain, it’s supporting a parallel economy that harms everyone.’
Police have launched a new public awareness campaign encouraging citizens to report illegal sales and avoid buying from unauthorised street sellers.
‘The citizen-police partnership is vital to stopping this kind of crime,’ the force said, calling on the public to ‘help us make Marbella a safer and fairer city.’
Fake fashion empire busted in Málaga
The warning comes as the National Police recently dismantled a major counterfeit clothing network operating from Malaga’s Guadalhorce industrial estate, where wholesalers supplied fake luxury brands to hundreds of distributors across the province.
That operation led to 49 arrests, the seizure of over 7,000 kilos of clothing, 24,000 branded items, and €380,000 in cash, along with 500 counterfeit collector coins.
