Lleida’s Guardia Urbana (local police) has issued 17 fines since 1 October, when it put its new Inspection and Civility Group on the streets: four officers who patrol at random hours and may work in plain clothes, according to a statement from the Paeria, Lleida City Council. Ten of the fines went to individuals and seven to businesses. Almost all of them concern rubbish: bags left outside the bins, badly managed commercial waste and furniture and bulky items dumped on the pavement.

The deputy mayor for Security, Cristina Morón, put the amount of those fines at between 120 and 3,000 euros, according to SEGRE, depending on how serious the offence is and whether it is repeated. SEGRE reckons the 17 fines came in barely eight days.

Mayor Fèlix Larrosa’s government reported the launch of the group to the Security, Mobility and Civility committee. In the same session it announced two feasibility studies for underground car parks and a working group to enlarge the Blondel car park. La Ciutat reported the news this Tuesday, 13 October.

Who they are and how they work

The group belongs to the Guardia Urbana’s Community Policing Unit, according to the Paeria. There are four officers. SEGRE specifies that they work in pairs and can patrol 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in uniform or in plain clothes.

The council statement lists their tasks: patrols, inspections of problem areas, checks on businesses that generate waste, targeted surveillance and monitoring of repeat behaviour. The council stresses that the group does not stop at spotting the incident. It also works to identify those responsible, gather evidence, carry out administrative investigations and process the complaints.

Morón explained it with an example, according to SEGRE: beyond detecting an incident, the officers will investigate it and find whoever did it; if they find rubbish outside a cluster of bins, as well as inspecting what is inside to look for clues to the culprits, they will also be able to ask around the nearby blocks of flats to find them.

The councillor repeated that idea in the Paeria statement. According to the council text, the aim is not only to detect the incident and inspect bins for clues, but to investigate as far as possible to identify the offender and prevent, through the fine, the behaviour from being repeated.

Where they patrol

The unit focuses on the spots where most anti-social behaviour has been detected and on areas with a lot of shops, bars and restaurants, according to the Paeria. The statement does not name any streets or neighbourhoods.

Besides rubbish, the group watches for other behaviour that damages public space. The council gives one example: not picking up after dogs.

The Paeria is also working on an app to map problem spots, as part of the Pacte del Civisme i la Convivència (Civility and Coexistence Pact). Morón described it this way in the council statement: «Diferents agents (educadors, treballadors municipals o representants d’entitats) aniran nodrint aquesta eina amb els punts de la ciutat on s’estigui produint incidents d’incivisme i es facilitarà a la Guàrdia Urbana perquè els agents puguin planificar la seva intervenció».

The statement gives no date for the app to go live.

What the mayor and the councillor said

Larrosa summed up the measure at the committee. According to SEGRE, he said the council is reinforcing street cleaning, putting more resources on the streets and being more demanding about their upkeep. The council statement, in Catalan, adds a request to residents: that «tothom col·labori i participi».

Morón set out the goal in the same statement: «Amb això volem fer que Lleida sigui una ciutat més endreçada i més neta».

The councillor argued that the council combines two approaches. On one hand, fines to curb anti-social behaviour. On the other, awareness-raising, according to the Paeria.

Workshops against fake news and a giant puppet

The second approach is a catalogue of activities on coexistence and civility that the government presented at the same committee, aimed at local organisations. SEGRE adds that it will also be offered to schools and sports centres.

The Paeria statement details the content:

  • The talk and workshop «No t’ho creguis tot», on learning to spot fake news.
  • The workshop «Pensament crític per comprendre el món que compartim».
  • The workshop «Convivència, conflictes i cultura de grup».
  • The talk and discussion «Educar per pensar».
  • An information and awareness workshop on recycling.
  • The talks «Grades amb valors», to promote the values of sport among families.
  • The workshop «Roda amb cap», for people who ride e-scooters.
  • The show «La sireneta del Segrià», starring a large-format puppet outraged by the deterioration of the planet.

SEGRE sums up one of those sessions as a guide to how parents should behave at their children’s football matches.

The statement does not give the cost of the catalogue, who runs the workshops or how many organisations have signed up.

The same week, on the street

On the Thursday of that same week, the Guardia Urbana reported three people for drugs and three more for anti-social behaviour in a single day, according to SEGRE. The first three were for possession of narcotics in public, on Carme and Cavallers streets and Blondel avenue; officers seized the drugs. The other three were for anti-social behaviour: dumping rubbish outside the bins, taking items from the bins and drinking alcohol in the street.

SEGRE linked those reports to the new specialised unit. The report does not say whether they were handled by the Inspection and Civility Group or by the rest of the force.

The opposition: «Menys campanyes i més policia al carrer»

The leader of the opposition in the Paeria, the People’s Party (PP) councillor Xavier Palau, had put anti-social behaviour on the municipal agenda in the preceding weeks.

On 5 October, La Ciutat published his complaint about rubbish piling up on Bruc street. Palau said then that the situation «demostra la incapacitat del govern socialista per posar fre a l’incivisme i garantir uns carrers nets i dignes». He added: «no serveix de res anunciar una campanya rere una altra contra l’incivisme si després els veïns continuen trobant deixalles acumulades als carrers».

The PP politician also criticised the rising cost of waste collection. «Els lleidatans paguen més per la recollida de les escombraries, però això no es nota als carrers», he said, according to La Ciutat. The PP called for a swift response to dumped waste and bulky items and for community service for anti-social offenders who cannot pay. His closing line sums up the party’s position: «Cal menys propaganda i més gestió. Menys campanyes i més policia al carrer».

In a report published on 8 October, La Ciutat covered Palau’s meeting with residents around Francesc Molí street, Aladins street, the Francesc Molí passage and Bonifaci VIII street. Residents told him of complaints about drug dealing and speeding vehicles. Palau recalled the incidents in the area where the railway tracks were covered over, including a fire, and called for more police presence and control.

«No podem permetre que hi hagi zones de Lleida on la manca de control acabi generant una sensació d’impunitat. Les normes s’han de complir i l’Ajuntament ha de garantir que es compleixin», he said, according to La Ciutat. And he warned: «Els veïns no demanen privilegis. Demanen poder viure tranquils al seu carrer, sentir-se segurs i saber que el seu Ajuntament no els deixa sols davant dels problemes».

None of the sources carries a PP assessment of the new group.

What it cost and what is being studied: more than 700 underground spaces

The same committee was also briefed on the Apparca Plan, the council’s plan to organise and modernise parking in the city, according to the Paeria.

The council has awarded the company Doymos the feasibility study for two public underground car parks. One, with 300 spaces, behind the Rectorate of the University of Lleida, with a green area on top. The other, with about 200 spaces, at the junction of Prat de la Riba avenue and Pi i Margall, an area with many services, according to the statement.

In addition, the Paeria has set up a working group with Interparking Saba, which runs the Blondel car park, to enlarge it by at least 200 spaces. They would be added to the current 452, which serve the Commercial Axis and the Historic Centre. Larrosa suggested the extension could reach as far as Plaça Espanya, which would allow part of that area to be pedestrianised, according to the Paeria.

Taken together, the three projects add up to more than 700 underground spaces, according to the headline of the council statement and La Ciutat.

The mayor defended the plan with these words, quoted in the statement: «Més aparcaments soterrats significa menys cotxes ocupant espai de superfície, més oferta d’aparcament significa menys cotxes donants tombs buscant aparcament i això també ens permet avançar en la creació de noves zones verdes».

The statement does not give the value of the contract with Doymos, the expected cost of the works or a timetable.

What is not on record

None of the sources reports the cost of the new group or whether its four officers are new posts or come from other Guardia Urbana units. The total amount of the 17 fines is not on record, nor how many have been paid, nor on which streets they were issued. It is not on record which bylaw each fine applies.

The council statement does not mention the drug dealing or the speeding that residents reported to the PP. Nor is it on record whether the group will act on the streets Palau pointed to.

There is no date for when the problem-spot app will be available, and no cost for the workshop catalogue. The Paeria was not consulted before publication.

The next figure will come from the council itself: the group’s tally of fines when it completes its first month, if the Paeria makes it public.

Sources and verification

Information based on the Paeria statement on the launch of the Inspection and Civility Group (the downloaded page shows no date); SEGRE, 9 October 2026; La Ciutat, 13 October 2026; SEGRE, 10 October 2026; La Ciutat, 8 October 2026, and La Ciutat, 5 October 2026. The 24-hour schedule and the amount of the fines come only from SEGRE, which attributes them to councillor Morón. It has not been possible to consult the minutes of the Security, Mobility and Civility committee or the contract file for the car park studies.