Sure this has likely happened to you more than once, especially if you park on the street. You find a flyer on the windshield advertising ‘We buy your car’ or ‘Do you want to sell your car?’, beside a phone number. In my neighborhood it happens often and you end up removing it. If it rains before you get in your car, the little slip sticks to the windshield. On one occasion I even had to scrape because the ink stayed imprinted on the glass.
Beyond the dubious origin of these buy-sell businesses, this isn’t limited to Spain. This is evidenced by the note the owner of this Skoda placed on his car in Germany, fed up with this kind of advertising. The height of it was when one of these flyers fell inside the car door. You should know that you can report it: this aggressive and bothersome advertising practice is expressly prohibited in some Spanish cities.
“I will hold you responsible for any damage”
On a sheet pasted to the side window of a Skoda Fabia Combi, parked on a street in Kassel, reads the warning from the angry owner: “To all car dealers! After your persistent employees have shoved, for the umpteenth time, an advertising card between the side window and the rubber seal, it has fallen inside the door when attempting to remove it. I will hold you responsible for any damage that may result from this.”
And he adds: “If I find advertising on my car again, no matter who, where, or in what form, I will take legal action. And to make it absolutely clear once and for all: ‘This car is not for sale, so get lost!’.”
The photos were posted by a user on Reddit, who was struck by the notice. Probably because he had experienced it himself. Some comments on the post question how it could have fallen inside the door. But overall the majority join the complaints: “My whole street is full of business cards because it seems someone hands them out twice a day,” says one. “I always catch them in Berlin after parking for such a short time, but I’ve never managed to trap one of these modern ninjas,” another asserts.
Fines of €3,000 or more in Spain
In Germany, there are precedents of penalties for this advertising practice: in a similar case, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf ordered a dealership to pay a fine for placing these commercial leaflets. The judge considered it because there was no consent from the car owners and because it also generated cleaning costs. The fine was €200, peccata minuta for a dealership.
In Spain, putting promotional flyers on cars is prohibited by certain municipal or regional regulations. In an official bulletin of the Seville provincial council, published in 2021, it states that “Queda prohibida la fijación o colocación de octavillas o de cualquier tipo de publicidad, sobre los limpiaparabrisas de los vehículos“.
In a ordinance of the Puebla de Cazalla Town Hall, also in Seville, it states that: ” Queda prohibida la fijación o colocación de octavillas o de cualquier tipo de publicidad, sobre los limpiaparabrisas de los vehículos, ya se encuentren estacionados en la vía pública o en marcha”. And the same in Torrevieja: in the section on prohibited advertising activities there is the prohibition of placing printed advertising on windshields or on any element of cars parked on the street.
The fine for failing to comply varies by municipality, and is higher than the one set in Germany. For example in Torrevieja the prohibited advertising activity in the ordinance ranges between €1,500 and €3,000. In Ciudad Real, where it is also prohibited, fines start at €750 for a minor offense and can go up to €30,000 if it is very serious.
Images | Weird_Water_9773 on Reddit
In Motropasión | He defrauded drivers with parking fines and a website to collect their data. He has only been fined €2,000
