christmas in spain costa del sol crime in spain malaga airport pickpockets supermarket a
Christmas is coming and the peak present-buying season is coming up. We are carrying more cash around with us than normal and unfortunately this has also brought a spate of petty crime to my local shopping centres, airport and town centres on the Costa del Sol.
Over the past three weeks, three of my neighbours/acquaintances have had money or bags taken from them.
The first was a pensioner who had come over to see his daughter and her family. A pickpocket carried off one thousand euros in Malaga airport. This was so fast that he has no idea how it happened or even has a clue about who did this to him.The next victim was one of my neighbours. She is a young mum and has only just recently come to Spain. She had just finished shopping in our local Mercadona supermarket here on the Costa del Sol and put her bags into the boot of her car. She put her handbag on the front seat of her car and didn’t notice that a small, battered, turquoise car had pulled up next to her. A man came up to her and asked her if she spoke English and at that moment another thief opened the car door and snatched her bag – the two guys jumped into the car and a third drove away at top speed.
My poor neighbour was stuck in the supermarket car park without her car keys, house keys, passport, purse, money, cards or mobile phone. To make matters worse she couldn’t speak a word of Spanish. She went back into the Supermarket and luckily saw a friend doing her shopping there. The police were called and my neighbour’s family contacted. Unfortunately the thieves were not caught. However after this incident Mercadona put up warnings in its store window.
A couple of weeks later I was talking to one of my friends and the same gang had robbed her mother, this time in the Eroski supermarket car park. They used the same method but had changed their car.
These are hard times for everyone but unfortunately some are turning to crime to make ends meet. It came as a shock that these three incidents were so close to home. In the future I will certainly keep a tight grip on my bag!
comments
Flora Macdonaldsaid
BEWARE OF THREE YOUNG MEN WHO WAIT FOR UNSUSPECTING TOURISTS AT MALAGE AIRPORT ~ AS MY SISTER & I WERE HEADING DOWN THE WALKWAY THEY STOLE HER PURSE ! A GOOD HAUL WITH ALL HER MONEY IN IT! WE WAITED FOR THE POLICE< BUT THEY NEVER DID ARRIVE ~ WE REPORTED IT THE NEXT DAY & WE WERE INFORMED IT IS AWAY OF LIFE NOW. THANKFULLY HER PASSPORT WAS IN MY BAG ! ALL THIS IN FRONT OF OTHER TOURISTS WHO WERE DISGUSTED!!
DURING OUR TWO WEEK STAY FIVE OTHER PEOPLE IN OUR AREA WERE ALSO ROBBED BY MEN ON MOTORCYCLES !! MOST PEOPLE DO NOT REPORT THE CRIME AS IT IS EPIDEMIC NOW IN SPAIN~ MAYBE WE SHOULD CARRY MACE OR A STUN GUN !! AS WE HAVE BEEN COMING TO SPAIN FOR 25 YEARS WE DO NOT PLAN ON RETURNING ~ SO TOURISTS BEWARE AND BE SAFE FROM THESE DESPICABLE THIEVES !!
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