Welcome to Jun - the Spanish town that is run through Twitter

A little-known town on the outskirts of Granada, Spain, has gained prominence after slashing local government spending and transporting most of its services to social network Twitter, acording to a feature by the New York Times.

Jun, which has a population of around 3,500, has spent much of the last 5 years turning their area into one of the most active Twitter users in the world. More than half of the people living there have accounts with the micro-blogging site.

The main way to contact the government for any public service is now through this method. "Need to see the local doctor? Send a quick Twitter message to book an appointment. See something suspicious? Let Jun’s policeman know with a tweet," reported the NY Times.

Most recently, the town's mayor José Antonio Rodríguez Salas created a Twitter account for his newborn daughter, to let those in the area know the news of his new arrival. He sent a tweet saying "my mother has just arrived to the hospital and I think I am going to be born soon", followed by "I have just been born at 3.55 weighing 3 kilos 100 grams".

Speaking to NY Times, Mr. Rodríguez Salas said "everyone can speak to everyone else, whenever they want. We are on Twitter because that's where the people are."

The transformation did not happen overnight however.

The mayor was elected in 2005, the year before Twitter was founded, and in 2011 asked all town officials, from himself to the rubbish collectors, to open Twitter accounts. He wanted to create accountability and transparency over how Jun was run.

He wanted to create accountability and transparency over how Jun was run

María José Martínez, Jun’s information technology chief, also organised courses at the community centre to teach Twitter 101, such as sending direct messages and using the right hashtag for your particular need.

One recent hashtag that residents have used is #EndesaMeEstresa, or “Endesa You’re Stressing Me Out,” to highlight problems with Endesa, a local utility. After the company was confronted with Jun’s angry tweets, it quickly fixed the blackouts, Mr. Rodríguez Salas said. An Endesa spokeswoman declined to comment, said NY Times.

Basic services like public maintenance were the first to operate, but the usage has become almost universal as word-of-mouth has spread among residents who ahve seen their neighbours utilising it so effectively.

In a period when the budgets of many Spanish communities have faced great pressure, particularly in towns as small as Jun, they have cut costs dramatically, now employing only one police officer.

For Justo Ontiveros, Jun’s remaining police officer, those benefits are felt by him. He now receives up to 20, mostly private, messages from locals daily with concerns ranging from advice on how to fill out an application form to reporting crimes like domestic abuse and speeding.

“It gives people more power to come and talk to me about their problems,” said Mr. Ontiveros, whose department Twitter account has more than 3,500 followers.

Some still err on the side of caution however, prefering to stick with traditional routes of getting things done. The mayor's wife for example has chosen to remain much more private than her political husband. Many doubts remain in the system's effectiveness, were it to be applied to a larger area, where more people (and crime) exist.