Estepona traffic cameras set to pass 400 as police car scans every plate it meets

Estepona council has put over a €900,000 contract out to bidders to add more than 170 smart cameras at 82 spots, most of them on the outskirts. Officials now say the finished network will go past 410 devices. With 79,621 residents on the latest padrones, that works out at one camera for every 194 people.

Councillors first rolled out 110 units in 2023 and later added 73 more through deals with urbanisations, taking the current stock to about 240. Deputy mayor Ana Velasco says earlier coverage already improved how traffic moves, so this next batch is meant to close the gaps.

How the expanded network will work

New cameras will read number plates, place vehicles on a map, sort them by type and feed live pictures into a central server at Local Police headquarters. Operators there can share the feed with other forces when needed. Contract papers also call for approved speed radars so the same grid can watch both density and velocity.

Velasco told reporters the extra equipment brings “greater capacity and better performance” so staff can react faster to jams, crashes and everyday hold-ups.

Police car that reads plates on the move

One extra piece that’s inside a patrol vehicle. That mobile reader can pick up every plate it sees, whether the car is parked or rolling. Software is expected to flag local offences such as double parking, yellow-line stops, pavement parking or blocked loading bays, plus road-safety breaches including no ITV or no compulsory insurance.

Fines software must talk straight to DGT records so tickets can be processed without extra paperwork. Installers have to follow Spain’s National Security Scheme and data-protection rules for every transmission.

There’s no doubt more to this project than just traffic. Both Mijas and Estepona have been putting in extra efforts over the last year to ensure there is no overspill of potentially criminal activity from neighbouring municipalities, and with this level of technology wired directly into the local police, they may just achieve that.

Bids were due through the public procurement platform. Once awarded, the winner also takes on maintenance of the cameras already in place.