A viral Facebook post claims that Lisbon currently has 41 speed cameras. But, on the other hand, it reveals that the city of Madrid supposedly has four. That is to say, about ten times less than the equipment installed and in operation in the Portuguese capital. To do this, the author of the original publication shared an image of the different radars spread across the country.

Now, looking at the map, it is clear that the information in this post is linked to recent news reporting that new speed traps would be installed in Portugal, specifically in the city of Lisbon. The Observer contacted the municipality, now run by Carlos Moedas, who confirmed that there are in fact 41 speed cameras in the Portuguese capital today. These are 21 radars that replaced old equipment and 20 installed in new locations, with “the most advanced technology”, according to various media, including the Observer.

Lisbon. Where the new radars with “more advanced technology” are working

Looking at the neighboring country, the story is different. According to the most current data, the Spanish capital has 86 radars, as does another large city in Spain, Barcelona. This data is public and can be consulted from Budget Direct, which obtained this information through The Worldwide Speed ​​Camera Base, which has the largest database of speed cameras in the world. They were also quoted from an article in the Spanish newspaper El País, published in the “El Motor” section, on August 20, 2021.

At that date, Lisbon still had only 25 radars in operation, therefore, 1.78 radars every 100 kilometers. Madrid had more than double (86, as mentioned above, which may include cell phones and “stretch” cameras, which calculate not speed, but the time it takes for a driver to travel a certain distance), which made 1.63 radars per 100 kilometers The General Directorate of Traffic, a body dependent on the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, is the appropriate institute to also know the different types of existing radars with the most current data, that is, from 2022.

To obtain more specific data on the city of Madrid, the Observer contacted the municipality headed by Isabel Ayuso. In response to the request for clarification, the municipality of the Spanish capital referred to the official data on the website of the city council – which indicates that the number of fixed speed cameras is, in fact, only 29-.

In other words, although Lisbon currently has more fixed radars than the city of Madrid, it is not accurate to say that the Spanish city has only four, and that, therefore, the Portuguese capital has “ten times more” control equipment. speed of operation.

conclusion

The city of Lisbon does not currently have “ten times more” fixed speed cameras than Madrid. The radar map of the Portuguese capital was recently updated and already has 41 of these electronic devices. On the other hand, as confirmed by The Observer, the Madrid municipality has only 29. However, as can be read in several specialized articles on the subject, the total number of this type of device may be much higher in the Madrid capital. .

According to the Observer classification, this content is:

WRONG

In the Facebook rating system, this content is:

FAKE: The main content claims are factually inaccurate. This option typically matches “false” or “mostly false” ratings on fact-checking websites.

NOTE: This content was curated by The Observer as part of a fact-checking partnership with Facebook.