It has emerged that four Sevilla locals were fined last summer for chatting quietly on a bench in a public square 47 metres from the nearest residential building.

Victoria (38) and Isabel (35) say they were innocently enjoying the cool early morning air in the pedestrianised Plaza Almeda with two other friends, insist they were talking normally, and point out that they were not, nor had they been, drinking.

Their names were taken after politely challenging the orders of two Local Police beat officers who asked them to move on, but never expected the fine notifications to arrive.

When they did, a couple of days ago, they were indignant to discover that they were being asked to pay €100 euros each for "talking in the silence of the night."

Their case has brought to light a number of similar incidents of overzealous enforcement by Sevilla Local Police of legislation passed two years ago outlawing outdoor alcohol parties, or 'botellones'.