A resident in Cadiz province has been fined after posting a photo of a Local Police officer on social media.
Authorities said the sanction highlights the need for citizens to respect the law while officers are carrying out their duties.
News of the fine emerged as part of a detailed list of recent interventions made by local police in Jerez.
In Spain uploading images of police online can lead to fines and even jail time under the country’s so-called ‘gag law’.
It is more formally known as the Ley Mordaza or Organic Law 4/2015 on the protection of citizen security.
The law, its architects argued, aims to prevent the dissemination of images that could endanger the personal safety, family or undercover operations of police officers.
Part of its text warns that uploading images to social networks with the intent to discredit, threaten, or defame officers can result in administrative fines or even criminal charges of ‘disclosure of secrets’.
While it is generally legal to film and picture police officers, it is the sharing or disseminating of these images that can get you in trouble.
It is why the faces of police officers are blurred in news reports in Spain.
The local police in Jerez did not reveal why the resident was taking images of officers or how much they will be fined.
It came as officers were targeting drug use and public disorder in the historic city.
Some 11 fines were issued for drug possession or consumption in public areas near Calle Merced and in an industrial estate in the west of the city, with three more fines issued in another nearby district.
One man was arrested in the same industrial area on suspicion of a public health offence after officers seized illegal substances.
In addition, police issued several fines related to public order offences. These included drinking alcohol in public, participating in street drinking gatherings known as ‘botellon’ public urination and, notably, sharing images of a Local Police officer performing their duties on social media.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
