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A View from the Mountains

Some years ago, Paul Whitelock wrote a regular column for a regional newspaper entitled A View from the Mountains. He has decided to recycle the name on Eye on Spain as a repository for news items of interest to English-speaking immigrants and visitors to Spain.

LOOTING in flood-hit Valencia
Friday, November 1, 2024 @ 8:35 AM

Friday 1 November 2024

Some 50 people, including children, have been detained while ransacking and looting premises affected by flooding in Pais Valenciano.

Can you believe it?

    Looting in Valencia [Video courtesy of Daily Mail Online]

 

What happened?

At a time when the area has been devastated by the DANA* and over 150 deaths have been confirmed in the Valencia area alone with more dead bodies expected to be discovered as the clean-up operation gets under way, when the government has declared the area a disaster zone and has declared three days of national mourning, some people seem to think it’s OK to ransack and steal from shops, pharmacies, offices and private homes damaged by the floods. It’s unbelievable!

If these sinvergüenzas were stealing food, water and other essential supplies to help survive the aftermath of the disaster, it might be excusable, but these people are taking advantage of other people’s misfortune to help themselves to electronic equipment, sports goods, perfume, mobile phones, tablets, anything small and portable and with a monetary value.

 

A swift response

Policia nacional and guardia civil officers have mobilised quickly, caught some of these looters red-handed and made some 50 arrests.

Fiscalía, the Prosecutor’s Office (similar to the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK) has announced that they will be calling for gaol sentences for those found guilty.

Groups of neighbours have organised themselves into shifts to guard these premises.

 

 

Burned out building looted [Olive Press News Spain]

 

A Personal View

I come back to my question: “What are these people thinking of?”

To call them animals is to do a disservice to our four-legged friends. They are quite simply scum. A strong word to use but justified in the circumstances, in my opinion.

From their appearance, how they’re dressed, etc, these aren’t even poor people. They are just cynical chancers.

I say, “Throw the book at them! Make an example of them as a deterrent to others.”

 

Note:

* DANA = Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos (Isolated Depression at High Levels), is also known as a "gota fria” (cold drop) and occurs when a cold air mass becomes isolated in the atmosphere. When this cold air collides with the warm, humid air of the Mediterranean, it triggers torrential rains and extreme weather conditions.

 

© Paul Whitelock

 

Links:

looting - Olive Press News Spain

Shocking moment looters raid Valencia store as mobs hit shops while desperate families resort to rummaging through mud to find food in flooded supermarkets - as death toll passes 150 | Daily Mail Online

 

Acknowledgements:

BBC News

Daily Mail

RTVE

The Olive Press

 

Tags:

50 arrests, BBC, Crown Prosecution Service, DANA, Daily Mail, disaster zone, Fiscalía, flooding, gaol sentences, guardia civil, looting, offices, Olive Press, País Valenciano Paul Whitelock, pharmacies, Policia nacional, private homes, Prosecutor’s Office, RTVE, scum, shops, sinvergüenzas, three days of national mourning, Valencia

 



Like 3




3 Comments


JohnSal said:
Friday, November 1, 2024 @ 8:54 AM

It is so sad that shameless persons will always try to profit from the misfortune of others. This is even more in evidence in the bigger cities where the sense of community is very much lacking and not knowing the owners of the looted items diminishes the sense of guilt, at least in the mind of the perpetrators. This is a crime against the owners and against society and a strong deterrent is called for in the form of severe penalties. Maybe it's also time to bring out the stocks and pillories in the plazas once again.


PablodeRonda said:
Friday, November 1, 2024 @ 1:16 PM

Hi, John
They really are shameless, aren't they. Maybe bringing out the stocks in the main square would shame the culprits. Being displayed before the public might just be a better deterrent than gaol.


eos_ian said:
Saturday, November 2, 2024 @ 7:17 AM

Hi all, as you say - if it were for food or water it would be understandable, but this is absolutely shameless - I spoke with a cousin yesterday who lives in Paiporta and thieves are literally going into people's homes while they are in there and stealing their belongings - not just shops - knowing that they cannot call the police - the government should have moved faster and brought in 5000 soldiers, not 500 to help with this disaster and take control. While so many neighbours are working hard and helping each other a small minority of criminals are at work making the situation even harder.





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