crime in costa blanca

are the levels of crime going up in costa blanca

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I wouldn't be surprised as this seems to be a world  wide trend.I think there was a thread about this not to long ago.

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There has been lots of threads on this, notably in the crime in Spain section a bit lower down.

However, to answer your question, I think most people will agree that it is going down, not up.  It is another seasonal thing but the increased amount of police on the streets appears to have had an effect in decreasing it but some people would say the influx of people from Eastern Europe and North Africa is having the opposite effect.  Listening to some people, you can't walk out of your front door without getting mugged and, if you are out of your house, dozens of gangs will rip the grilles off your house and strip it completely,. On the other hand, I have had a place there for six years and never had a sniff of mugging, break in or pickpocketing.  In fact, after reading on other sites on how bad it is, I brought this up at a community meeting last time I was there.  In the six years our community has been up and running, there have been 3 burglaries.  The community consists of about 250 properties ranging from detached to 3 storey flats so about 500 dwellings.  Then you are told "those over the road have been done loads of times".  I think the reality is crime is exagerrated when rumours get out of control.  One person having his pocket picked on the Friday market soon becomes an epidemic of thievery and one mugging gets blown up to it's not safe to walk anywhere.

I do not wish to belittle the crime figures and claim there is no crime in Spain.  I can understand some areas are worse affected than others and new builds, where many foreign workers hanging around plus not many permanent residents to keep an eye on things, are notorious for robberies.  But some people claiming that all properties on their block have been broken into several times either need to move or get a better security company to keep an eye on things.  I would also not like to compare places in UK with Spain as they are totally different.  We all know that crime in UK often goes unreported and, reading crime reports in my parish magazine, makes me cringe.  My relatively small village has an average of 3 cars a month stolen, 10 broken into, vandalism of property and cars and at least 3 houses a month broken into.  There is even an average of 1 shop done over (windows broken, robbery, ram-raided) every quarter and assaults on people would have hit the headlines just 10 years ago but now go virtually unremarked due to the frequency of them failing to shock anymore.  Certain inner cities are run by feral gangs and, every day I go to work, I see drug pushers hanging around schools, suspicious substances being passed from cars and hundreds of unemployed hanging around on street corners.  On my way home, the prostitutes openly ply their trade on the streets.  It has got so bad that we now provide an escort for our late-finishing female receptionists to the bus stop or get their husbands to escort them home if they live locally.  Even notoriously crime-ridden communities, such as Villamartin, Torrevieja and Alicante, can't have that many problems.   ( I am not saying those places are particularly bad for crime, just the way people talk about them makes it seem like it.  One woman we met in a pub says she hasn't been to Torrevieja for over 3 years and she called it crime-city.  It's stories like that which give the bad impression).

I am also not saying that those from East Europe are particulary bad either.  Just the perception from listening to other people telling you they are allowed into Spain but not allowed to work so the only way they can live is by stealing.  Again, I have had no experience of this.

IMHO,crime is how you perceive it.  If you have been a victim, the whole place will be a hot spot of skullduggery and bandits.  If you haven't, it will be an idyllic place to live with roses coming up everywhere.  My perception?  I have never been robbed or threatened in Spain and the roses bloom in every garden.  I have lived in the UK for 12 years and have had my home broken into, my car stolen, 3 cars broken into and my garden shed and garage done several times so the roses have wilted and there are crooks lying in wait round every corner.

The truth?  Probably somewhere in the middle.  Just don't read the Daily Mail or watch a Trevor McDonald programme and remember, it is those who have been a victim that tell their stories.  Those that haven't usually keep quiet about it.

 

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Bobaol has it spot on, as usual, his view is unbiased and true.

The only thing I can add is don't leave your head at the airport.

If on holiday, don't relax your security, do the same as you would at home in the UK, or wherever you are from.

Crime here is only around the corner, same as any other country, so just be alert............

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He we live in a small village on the Costa Blanca and there were several break in's during the building stage but feel as happy now as I would do in the Uk as if there are opportunities offered then people will take them so just make sure property it secure.

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We have had our place for almost 2 years now, when we first took over, we heard of breakins all the time, not a lot of people had signed up for their properties, building work was still going on and only two couples were actually permanently living there, what we did find was that every one that had been broken into, either hadnt had an alarm installed or moved their furniture in without having the grilles fitted, they werent aware of the possibility of crime. We had an alarm fitted on the same day as we had the grilles fitted and the furniture delivered, we have gone on to have window locks fitted and alarms on the grilles, but in saying that we are also very security consious when we are here in England, the thing is, crime is everywhere now, it is up to the individual to make sure it doesnt happen to them and the only way to do that, is to be vigilant and make sure everything is secure, just as you would do in England. 

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I live in a small village in the costa blanca. There is no epidemic here but crime is definitely rising and every month more and more people are being turned over. Its worse in the campo because we only have one policeman covering a big area and many many homes are empty during the day, but even the big urbanicazion is being hit. Most of the building sites are now empty and a large number of illegal workers (NOT JUST EASTERN EUROPEANS but ecuadorians, peruvians) are now out of work. Some, not all, may turn to crime. And because these people build houses, they are handy with heavy tools. Grilles dont help. Tie grille to car. Drive car away. Grille comes off. Takes 20 seconds. Alarms don't help. A few weeks ago a neighbour returned home to find two people leaving his hose with goods in tow, and they chased him down the road with the axe they used to get in the gate!!!!! His alarm didn't help him British people are popular target because to most they have money (more than them). Just look for a big white satellite dish in the garden, and no car on the drive. As i say, not an epidemic. It's a handful of unlucky people being hit as these people pass through. But if you live in the campo don't look like you're a tourist, get rid of that stupid satellite dish, get some decent dogs, always lock your gate even when your in, put a Spanish flag on your roof and leave an old car on the drive. Fit in and you won't be a target. Stand out and you will

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I do the neighbourhood watch figures for our area and I can say that crime has certainly decreased.  Saying that I live in the "Crime ridden area of villamartin"  opposite the block "where every apartment in the block has been broken into some more than once"  (I also send in the figures for that Urbanisation)   this only shows that some of the reports are not the whole truth!  Since November we have had three break-ins and in an area the size of this I would not think that was too bad.  Two were over the Christmas period, one had no alarm or grills and one had grills but had left the window and shutter open (ground floor apartment).  The third seems to be a target because there is a low rise building next door and it is the only one in that block with no alarm.  Like the others I would not say there is no crime, just get it in perspective.  I too was broken into in the U.K. twice and have lived here for four years without incident!

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Thankfully crime on our urb has decreased but it's now over 4 yrs old & I think crime's worse when an urb is new.

Regarding an alarm, we paid a small fortune to have Direct Alarms which was pre installed in all the houses around, activated only when you signed a 2 yr contract. It was at a reduced rate for 9 months then around 30€ monthly, a right swizz. Hubby accidentally walked downstairs one night after activating the downstairs areas & the alarm went off as it should. In our bedroom we have a box on the wall with an intercom linking us with DA & that time a staff member asked us for a prearranged password & that sorted that out.  The only other time it went off was New Year's Day around 2am. We had been in around 30 mins. We'd been out celebrating & when we came in through the front door we noticed that, although we'd switched the alarm off via the remote, the alarm began sounding in our bedroom. (DA don't put an exterior alarm on for basic price). OH switched alarm off & nothing else happened so we went to bed. We were just dropping off when I heard mens voices downstairs & to cut a long story short, it was our friend, Richard, with a mate. Richard has been the person DA contact if they can't get a password from whoever answers intercom except DA hadn't contacted us, just rung Richard. As it happened Richard was just back on the urb after being in town bringing New Year in but we were furious he had been bothered for no reason. We were all so relieved there hadn't ben a break in but DA are useless. They take your money & you end up looking after yourself anyway. We cancelled the contract, it had been three years. 

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I have to say we used a company called Isidro (not too sure of the spelling) they were great, very satisfied with them, we have had to contact them on two occasions and both times they were really helpful, the first time he called round with his wife on their way home from somewhere just to sort the alarm out, and on the other they put us in touch with someone who does contract work for them, but they are good and it didnt cost the earth, I still say that if you are vigilant with the alarms, the locks and grilles and anything else that you might have, you should be ok, I mean you wouldnt go out in england and leave the windows open and the front door unlocked would you, so why should you do it in Spain, of course the problems come when (or if) you rent the property out, it is all very well being security consious yourself, but getting others to understand how important it is, is quite another thing, we have had our's for almost two years now and touch wood we havent had any problems (crossing my fingers now) :-)

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Elaine, if your alarm sounds (especially if you are in the UK) how does the system work ? Is it left up to your designated keyholder for the alarm to go look & get the Guardia if necessary ?

 Does it also have the alarm on the wall outside or inside, as ours was ? How much is it monthly & will you send me details so if we wanted to contact them, we could, please.

Thanks.

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