Four youngsters between 16 and 20 years old have been caught red-handed by the police in Tavira early on Friday morning as they sprayed graffiti on public and private buildings.
Police seized ‘various objects’ being used by the suspects in pursuit of their anti-social activities, including several spray cans.
The police spokesman said that "in recent months there has been a significant increase of graffiti in Tavira, mostly on public buildings, which has been a cause of great upset for local residents.”
The four arrested are suspected of carrying out a widespread campaign across the city and the police spokesman said he hopes that "the proliferation of graffiti now will decrease significantly.”
The cost to councils of cleaning graffiti from the walls of ancient and historic buildings is significant and no less costly is the removal of graffiti from more modern structures with stonework the most difficult surface to clean.
The council is confident that these arrests will stop the Tavira problem overnight as 99% of graffiti is sprayed by one person or gang working in a defined area.
