A Spanish woman who took a picture of a police car parked in a disabled bay has been fined nearly £600 under a controversial new 'gagging law', it has been revealed.

The picture, taken by an unnamed woman from Petrer in Alicante, was put up online with the caption 'Park wherever the hell you like and they won’t even fine you'.

But within two days police had tracked her down and fined her €800 under Spain's new Citizens Security Law, it has been reported.

A Spanish woman was fined nearly £600 for taking this picture of a police car parked in a disabled bay. Officers said they were responding to reports of vandalism in a nearby park

The legislation, passed in July, bars 'the unauthorised use of images of police officers that might jeopardise their or their family’s safety or that of protected facilities or police operations'.

Human rights organisations including Amnesty International, have already condemned the new law, for which fines can reach up to €30,000.

According to The Local, the woman involved deleted the picture within 24 hours of posting it - but was still hit with a fine.

A police spokesman reportedly told the local newspaper Petrer al Día that the patrol car was in the disabled bay after officers had been called to a report of vandalism at a park.

A Spanish woman has been fined nearly £600 under a controversial new 'gagging law' for taking a picture of a police car parked in a disabled bay, it has been revealed. A man is pictured protesting against the law earlier this year

The legislation, passed in July, bars 'the unauthorised use of images of police officers that might jeopardise their or their family’s safety or that of protected facilities or police operations'

The spokesman, Fernando Portillo, said officers left their cars wherever was necessary in an emergency.

'We would have preferred a different solution but they have the legal right to impose the fine,' he added, according to the Guardian.

The gagging law imposes fines for protests near parliament and for those who try to intervene when families who can't pay their mortgages are are being evicted.