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I was at a dinner last night with a group of friends. One of them lives between the UK and Valencia and commutes on a weekly basis, he was telling me that 4 couples he knew that lived in Spain had decided to move back to the UK due to the fear of being broken into. I hadn't really considered this an issue until he mentioned it and I haven't really heard much talk of it recently on the forums and I was just wondering what's everyones take on this? Is there a real feeling of fear amongst the expat communities of being broken into or is it just a fear that is isolated to particularly areas. The area he was mentioning was Denia through to Altea. Any views?
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Ian : EOS TEAM MEMBER
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www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/ianandspain.aspx
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Ex pat Areas and urbanisations attract crime, as the people living there are seen as wealthy. Some have low walls and no rejas, leave their doors open, all of which make it easy for thieves. Often, car keys and purses, jewellery are left out in the house, ready for picking up.There are many distraction crimes carried out by people who are slick fast and clever. Never think that you won't be a victim. It's amazing how some walk around supermarkets with their handbags sitting in the trolley, or wallets in their pockets . Cars are left with keys in, the owner in the bank. Women still leave their handbags on the passenger seat or in the boot. In ,handbags are often left on the floor, and "disappear" Yes there is alot of burglary, but people could do a lot more to help themselves. One cheeky thief on Camposol, broke into a holiday home, used their linen, ate their food, while making regular visits to nearby homes to steal valuables. Others have had homes burgled while out to lunch-thieves are getting bolder. The days of leaving the doors open are long gone. In the Campo, isolated houses are also at risk, guard dogs can be poisened, old people are very vulnerable.In these hard economic times the incidence of burglary is not going to diminish.
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WOW - is it really that bad !!
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Cannot see the logic here, are there no burglaries in UK?
We have been burgled three times here in Spain but our culprits were British !!!
We have had good service from our Insurance company and I will not let the b******s spoil my life.
I'm staying here.
Jean
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Well said Jean! There seems to be this fantasy amongst inward migrants to Spain that their homeland has remained stuck in some 1950s idyll of cheery bakers on every corner and doors wide open while children play happily in the streets unmolested and free from fear of joyriders! Fine people - if you want to go back to the UK then go back. But don't invent these ridiculous reasons. It's probably just like in the UK, that if you live on an estate (even if you call it an urbanisation) there's probably a risk of burglary, similar if you live in a city or big town. Large isolated villas are a target in any country. In small villages you have to know your patch, who is around all day, whether the old lady opposite sitting at the window would actually call someone if there was a stranger around, and how long you are out for. I don't lock at the moment on the morning bakery walk, because the guys working on our little road (only 7 houses) are superb guards! When they've gone I'll go back to locking. Be sensible. Personally, I reckon those folks are just USING that excuse. There must be some other reason for packing up and moving to another country - unless they've found a country where there is no crime???
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Blog about settling into a village house in the Axarquía. http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/tamara.aspx
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Of course there's crime in Spain as there is, sadly, everywhere nowadays. Fortunately I have not been a victim in any of my properties but others have. Mainly, as said, opportunistic . I was, however, a victim of crime in UK on 4 occasions and that in a leafy little village. Garage once, garden shed twice and the house once. It wasn't, however, the reason we packed up and left UK although it was a contributory factor. The attitude of the British police was shocking with one young PC almost blaming us for having nice things and living in a nice area. No, we don't "live in fear" of burglary in Spain but we are careful, the same as we were in UK. Beware of pickpockets in crowded areas like markets (in all countries), lock your doors and windows,(in all countries) and so on. We lived in Cyprus years ago when crime was virtually non existent, houses and cars were left open all the time. I'm told that if you do that nowadays you'd have no car and and empty house when you got back. PS in UK at the moment. Just off to de-ice the car, brave the potholes and the traffic jams on the m25, apparently traffic signals on the m4 junction have failed and a lorry has overturned! Oh, the joys.
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I have said this several times but I guess Ian has not seen my posts
Having been a detective in UK for 30 and now having lived in Spain for 25 years, 15 of which I have been a volunteer interpreter with the National Police, I can say from day to day experience of working with the police and assisting victims of crime, that the crime rate in Spain is considerably lower now than it was in UK 25 years ago,
Some days in my four hours stint not one non Spanish person comes to make a crime report.
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Yes John I have read many of your great and informative posts and I am of the same mind frame. I was just suprised to hear from a Brit that he had come across 4 cases where this was the "only" reason for moving back and was curious as to whether I was oblivious to this problem or whether it isn't any more a problem here than in the UK. I still feel that Spain is far safer than the UK and I agree with most, villas will be a target for thieves anywhere in the world. It may just be an issue with the Altea area, where there are a large number of "high value" properties which are obvious targets for thieves. The comments confirm my original thoughts.
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Ian : EOS TEAM MEMBER
www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/ianandspain.aspx
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Ian,
The problem lies between reality what people believe.
Most people do not have access to official figures, therefore, can only go by chatting with friends and acquaintances.
Rather like news in a newspapers, good news is not interesting, however, exaggerating the facts can make stories a lot more interesting. With each person who passes on a story, adding their bit, the true story soon disappears.
The facts are; crime in Spain is much lower than in comparable areas in UK. So if one wants to leave Spain fine, but don't go down the 'Costa del Crime' route, it is not correct
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Our house in Spain got broken into xmas 2010, day before xmas eve, we went out for about 2/3 hours and came back to the mess, i considered this break in 95% my fault, i used to sit in our dining room looking at the entrance door and think to myself "must get that made more secure" and i never got around to doing it, and they came in through this door, broke open the metal grill, prised the thick wooden door open, you know the rest, called the police they came in about 5/6 mins but couldn't do anything.
I secured everything the best i could and came home after xmas.
Got back to England and the police had put a note through my letter box asking if we had seen anything as 5 houses up the road had been broken into between 11pm and about 4am a couple of days before, modern plastic/metal front doors with a turn down lever type handle which the thieves put a metal tube over and levered the handle downwards, all the doors with these handles opened. One house had a dog which didn't do a thing.
I put a burglar alarm in the UK house and went back to Spain and fitted the same alarm in the Casa, put a extra very secure lock on the dining room door, beefed up the metal grill, and made secure the front wooden door.
While you cannot let others ruin your life you must make things harder for them and safer for yourself.
Does this stop me from wanting to live in Spain..nope..I see cops everywhere in Spain, in the UK i only see them when i park on a yellow line for a couple of seconds.
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BAZ, I see cops everywhere in Spain
And its even better than that.
I know many police officers in my town by sight, so I know that there are also many officers patrolling in plain clothes, in addition to those you see in uniform.
As you said though, if your home is insecure you stand a much greater chance of it being broken into.
And, sadly, the statistics prove that a property which has been broken into is more likely to be broken into again.
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Sorry Baz, but you are not 95% to blame when someone commits a crime against you. The perpetrator is to blame.
In terms of motives for leaving Spain and returning to the UK, property crime wasn't a factor at all for us; I didn't even think of it. Having said that I can think of in excess of 10 incidents when I have had things stolen off me in Spain compared to one mugging in the UK 25 years ago and a bike stolen off me when I was a kid, so about two incidents in my entire life, compared to more than 10 in Spain in 5 years. If you have a garden, you don't really expect a neighbour to climb in and steal your rake or another time, climb in and steal sacks of tile adhesive from your shed. You can't nail everything down and turn your house and garden into Fort Knox. It's disappointing that people will do this, but a lot more serious when they get into your house and violate you and make you feel unsafe in your home. If I had been burgled several times in Spain I could imagine wanting to leave, but it can happen just as easily in the UK and you also might then move house.
This message was last edited by eggcup on 04/12/2012.
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My account of moving to Spain. http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/olives.aspx"><img
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In my post there is NO mention of comparing Spain to the UK.
Statistically Spain may have less burglaries, muggings, but that is no comfort to those affected, sometimes more than once. i f someone moves to Spain and their home has been violated, precious things stolen, then I can understand them wanting to move to wherever they think they will be safer.
As I said before, if you live on an urbanisation, you are perceived as being rich.It's a shame to turn your home into fort Knox, but it is necessary. Thieves will always find a way in but the aim is to make it as hard as possible, extra locks, window locks and alarms, door alarms, central burglar alarms etc, and best of all-a nosey neighbour!
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Whilst of course one sympathises with anyone who has been the victim of any crime, the fact that it has happened to you does not change the statistics that in Spain there is much less chance of being the victim of a crime than if you lived in the UK. As for being the victim of a violent crime in Spain that is so far below the risk in UK , that you can just about forget it.
For anyone to move from Spain back to UK because they incorrectly think Spain is worse, is not taking any notice of reality and very much a case of jumping from the relative safety of the frying pan into the flames of the fire.
Make sensible security provisions, just as you would in the UK, make sure you are insured with a company that will not screw you if make a claim, relax and don’t be panicked by incorrect info, no matter where you read it or how persuasive it sounds
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Johnx-but there is more chance of being a victim of crime if you are British and live on an urbanisation or in an isolated property in the country, whatever the statistics say, and though we are not comparing the two, I must say I have known far more people (myself included) who have been victims of crime in Spain than I ever did in the UK. The "distraction" crimes are particularly evil-slick, fast,well planned. Until you are a victim you will never know how betrayed you feel, vulnerable and violated.
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Until you are a victim you will never know how betrayed you feel, vulnerable and violated.
OK but as I actually assist people often within minutes of them being victims, and coupled with my police experience in the UK, and in Spain, dealing first hand with victims, I really do know the reality of what I say, as opposed to those who have a very narrow range of experience, who believe they know.
And most people I am sure would prefer to the victim of a 'distraction' crime (which often they don’t even realise has happened until later) than be the victim of a full blown mugging, which leaves them physically and emotionally injured, as all too often happens in the UK.
" ..... but there is more chance of being a victim of crime if you are British and live on an urbanisation or in an isolated property in the country, whatever the statistics say.... "
From15 years assisting victims in Spain, I have no evidence to support that view.
Clearly as most of the population are Spanish most victims who come to report crimes are Spanish.
Although, there is some distortion in the numbers, as most visitors have insurance which covers them for losses by all types of crime, whereas those who live in Spain, have much more restricted cover. Thus, less resident victims will bother to report crimes, for which they cannot make a claim.
This message was last edited by johnzx on 04/12/2012.
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Full blown mugging does happen in Spain too. search- murcia today-georgina's story, for a truly disturbing account of events that happened to an elderly couple in Mazarron. It is a rare story, but one to be aware of .
The effect of Distraction crime is not to be underestimated either, with it's emotional financial consequences, not to forget inconvenience and time consuming sorting out new documents etc.
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Camposol,
Full blown mugging does happen in Spain too
Are you pulling my leg, or did you not see I have worked with the police here for 15 years?
I do know first hand the real situation re crme in Spain. 'Full blown' muggings are exceedingly rare.
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I have to agree, it is very rare. During the 16 years I have been here I have only known of a few isolated cases of full-on mugging, maybe three at most. They were friends of friends. It is not common for people to be mugged in Spain. Even pickpocketing isn't even that common, well at least from my experience anyway, I'm sure John will be able to give more details on that. I feel that Spain is a very safe place still, especially in the villages and residential areas. The only time I have seen real trouble is out at night at the weekend and even then its nothing compared to the UK. I have many friends who work in private security and the local police and although they say crime is rising they are still mainly petty crimes that are on the rise. Sure villas get broken into, but from what I have been told, is that these seem to be well planned cases so they know exactly who they are robbing and hence what they can get, so unless you are really wealthy I don't think there is much to worry about! Nonetheless I don't think it is a problem worth losing any sleep over. The chances you get broken into are far less than in the UK. I have only known one friend of mine to be broken into, while he was away on business and his wife was in the house. His wife was held at knife point while they emptied the safe and took all the jewelry. Admitedly this guy was the wealthiest guy in the area and they knew he was away on business and knew exactly who he was. Luckily nothing serious happened apart from losing the money etc. Apart from that i haven't heard of any case within my circle of friends. So to all the mortals out there, sit back, relax and enjoy Spain, it doesn't get any safer as far as I can see.
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A donde el corazón se inclina, el pie camina.
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