Andalucia first to decide to fine Volkswagen

ANDALUCIA is the first Spanish region to have started proceedings to fine Volkswagen over its alleged emissions fraud, FACUA consumers’ association has announced.

The Junta de Andalucia regional government’s Health Department, FACUA reported, has opened a case against the car manufacturers regarding alleged manipulation of software to adjust data on nitrogen oxide emissions, which affected about 11 million vehicles worldwide, an estimated 700,000 of them in Spain.

The consumers’ association has lodged complaints with 17 different authorities in Spain, and Andalucia was the first to respond with action after its regional consumers department received more than 800 complaints through eight different provincial branches of FACUA.

Meanwhile seven other regions (Canary Islands, La Rioja, Asturias, Navarra, Murcia, Castilla y Leon and the Balearic Islands) have decided to shelve the case or pass it over to the national consumers’ department and FACUA has said that Cataluña, Castilla La Mancha, Aragon, Pais Vasco and Valencia have not even bothered responding to their complaints.