SPAIN CRIME WORSENS AND IS LOSING MONEY AND RESPECT.

Spain has relied heavily on tourism and people moving to live in the sun. However it seems to have fogotten that. The economy is failing and for longer as fewer and fewer people holiday and reside there.

Since Spain joined the EU it has been greed and corrupt mayors all the way. while the treatment of ' foriegners ' has plummeted to low levels. Spain should think again and hard about its future.

In La Linea 2 years ago A German friend of mine was taken away by the guardia civil and had his head smashed into a wall several times. He still has the scars. His crime ? Dancing too wildly at the La Linea Fair ( along with 500 others who were Spanish and ignored.

Another frind was stopped by the Gaudia Civile in his car returning from work in Gibraltar. He had done nothing wrong. He was hauked from the car at gunpoint. automatic weapons. asked very silly pointless questions after having been bent over his car. Not even the car was anything specail. They made him stand there for 10 minutes and then let him go.

He was terrified. I was very angry. I went immediately to the spot and approaoched the same police. Their attitide changed, but could offer no explanation. I complained to Angeciras and an appology was given, but no explanatuion. I am a journalist and have experience in these matters. The young man had not and has a young family. I called the police cowards. they did not respond.

I was  caught in a traffic scam by the police between Algiciras and San Roque a few months ago. It was an obviouse ' sting ' I had done nothing wrong. Though a polce car sped up behind me lights flashing. In front was another car parked at the side of the road. How convienient ! !00 euro fine ! for what Bad driving ! No way. I paid and have made serious complaint to Algiciras from UK.

When I and my friend began taking pictures of the polce and the situation they became angry I pointed out I was a photo-journalist. Theitr attirude changed and they tried to explain what the problem was. Too late they had fined me and I had paid. Now they are in trouble

My partner went to Barcelona this weekend to take her 10 year old grandson to see Messi play at a game in the stadium. They got on the metro and within an hour of arriving in Spain the boy had been terrorised by being dragged away at the metro station while his Grandmother was forced to hand over her ipad and iphone.

I contacted the City mayor, police and even the footnall stadium press office. three times.

No reply. Thats bad news for them and tourism and Spains economy. Such ignorance and ignoring the bad situation does not help. I could go on with many, many other stories of corruption and poor treatment of people. This is third world banana republic methods. Because they can not run things properly. They lived off the hard work of others taxes. And have abused it and their own people.

Spain I suggest you wake up very quickly and remember who paid your bills. the people you now treat like scum and mostly from the EU. They paid the taxes that allowed Spain to improve its intrafstructure and steal billions. Spain lived off others. Time to show some respect in return.

I will now publish these and other stories. I think its time everyone spoke out and the Spnish governemnt, aAnutamientos and police too a long hard look at what they have become.

I lived in spain during the 80's and  on several occasions since and watched the detrioation.

I am retiing soon, to live in Portugal. Shame I loved Spain and have many friends there. Spanish, German, British, Irish, Moroccon, Dutch etc.

I refuse to give spain any more money and to be treated so badly

Kevin Fitzmaurice-Brown

ya man

the place is wrecked

how unlucky can you get?

its not unlucky

the more you do the more shit you get

going to work in gib and back into spain every day has problems and even when you are not speeding you get fines for it

 Sorry to hear your problems Kevin, and those close to you - but Barcelona has always been a city in which you have to be very, very careful.   Also, having had close family living in Portugal for nearly 30 years - I am not sure you will find it that different!!

Good luck though.

My thoughts exactly....But of course in Portugal you only get to have your child kidnapped....better then having you head bashed on a wall i suppose.

I would choose to have my head smashed against a wall any day, over having my child kidnapped.  Are we now making jokes about Madeleine McCann and her poor parents?  I just read this out to my husband and he thinks it is a vile comment to make.

taken out of content it does look bad

but he wasnt meaning it in a bad way and was just using it as an example of extremes.

i didnt take offence

I would choose to have my head smashed against a wall any day, over having my child kidnapped. Are we now making jokes about Madeleine McCann and her poor parents? I just read this out to my husband and he thinks it is a vile comment to make.

Once again Eggcup you failed to read a post correctly but chose to make a vague comment on something that wasn't even said.

If this is YOUR idea of someone making jokes about little Madeleine i bet your a barrel of fun when telling real jokes, now for your information i love a good joke.....But never ever make, tell or listen to disgusting jokes about children or sick adults, i tell you this now for your future reference when you comment on something else i say that you don't agree with and haven't read correctly.

And as for telling your husband and he thinking it was a vile comment to make....would he dare to disagree with you, i have and look whats happened to me.

I know there is a lot wrong here in Spain, but what has gone wrong with Photowriter's spelling.

Bearing in mind he, or she, is supposed to be a journalist.

Firstly These incidents are facts. I could provide many, many more relating to corruption and higher matters. I see the topic has degenerated already into trivia ( spelling, I was in a rush and don't conside it relevant ) poor Madeline etc.

Perhaps those whose interest lies in distractions will like to read the complete story in the media at a future date. With corrected spelling. Like many other parts of the world it has come under the influence of poor economics enamating from the USA. Seems that cognitve dissonance is happy and at home in Spain as it is elswhere in the world.

As I said those were a few small and personal examples that have come to my notice because I knew those involved. There are  many more that I have been told about. so no it was not simply  a set of bad personal conincidences.

Almost every day there are large drug hauls along the coast. VAT (IVA ) is not collected in many areas as it such be. EU grants have been abused to massive levels and we all know about Spains Mayors and banking system. Copyright breaches are the norm and illegal copies are sold every day on the streets in full view of the police. Mains electrical wiring remains worse than a third world country in many areas and the energy companies are run like the mafia. the bad street wiring  remains after the EU grants to Endessa to improve it. The list goes on. This is not the way to put a wonderful country back on track. Spain had cleaned up its act many years ago. And now it is falling into disrepute. Shame on the leaders of such a wonderful country and culture.

World crime figures depend on many factors including the integrity of those supllying the information, the differences in  legal priorities and much more. Plus of course the political ramifications.

Yes Barcelona has long been a bad place for pickpockets. Why has it been allowed to increase ? This was a true robbery on the metro with physical attack, though no physical harm done. Having written 3 times that day to the powers that be, I am now told there are security people on the metro. Funny that. strange why I did not and have not had a reply from any area. But that is the bureaucratic  way. Not to accept any form of criticism and hopefully the problem will go away. It will not, its getting worse and Spains government in many ways is simply turning a blind eye and not paying its civil servants.

That is not the way to solve problems. Most countries are suffering from the economic crisis and immigration. Not paying the police is not a good social move when in bad econimic circumstances.

I agree with Photowriter, who gives many examples of the epidemic of corruption in Spain; really there should be no need for these to be continually listed, just for the sake of trying to convince a few expats who will never hear one word said against Spain.  The evidence is so vast it would be the job of a lifetime to try and list all the occurrences of corruption. 

I don't agree, however that the disappearance of a child should be seen as trivial.  There is not one type of crime that is somehow more serious and more deserving of debate than another.

As for the comment that was made, which I now quote:

"But of course in Portugal you only get to have your child kidnapped....better then having you head bashed on a wall i suppose."

How did I misinterpret this?   It is clear to me that the sentence states the writer would prefer to have their child kidnapped and/or thinks others would agree that it is better to have their child kidnapped, than to have their own head bashed against a wall.  I can read and I know what it says.  It is a light and jokey reference to Madeleine McCann being kidnapped and I think that's sick.  The good thing about this form of communication on a public forum is that it is written and is recorded here for anyone to see; so it's a bit silly to deny you've done it.  It would be better to acknowledge it and apologise if you've caused offence.  I just think of how the parents of any kidnapped child would feel if they read this.  It's called empathy.

Sorry I did not mean that Madeline was in any way trivaial. Just that it was a distraction from the subject. I empathise  deeply with the parent , as a parent myself. Just writing too fast on the hoof. Its just a matter that is not relevant to what is being said.

Appologies. The matter of Madeline is of coursae not trivial in the least !!!!

Thanks Photowriter.  As I said, I agree with the points you make about the mess Spain is in.  And contrary to what people think, I also appreciate the good side of Spain; it's just that it's getting so swamped by the criminality, that the 'good Spain' is drowning.

"This is not the way to put a wonderful country back on track. Spain had cleaned up its act many years ago"

When exactly? When Franco was alive???

Don't take offense but from somebody who has been fortunate enough not to go through those situation it does sound like demagoguery. I'm sorry to hear your personal stories but if you delve deep down you will find true stories everywhere of police corruption, government corruption, copywrite breaches and as you say the list goes on. But it happens here and in every country from Spain to Timbuktoo, so let's not blow things out of proportion. Obviously there is crime in Spain, but crime levels and the severity of the crimes are far less than in the UK or other countries(apart from the corruption scandals!) but thet is not a safety issue and the Spanish aren't particularly good at it as they are all getting caught. That doesn't mean that everything is hunky dory as it isn't, but the feeling on the street is not as you are describing it. I've been here 16 years and I haven't known anyone with as much bad luck as you and I live in a major City, not in a small protected town and I travel to Barcelona and Madrid frequently, even lived in Madrid for several years. You and your friends have been terribly unlucky.  I feel much much safer here than in the UK. Police are moving up to speed with modernising their databases and sharing information and I think they are doing particularly well given the circumstances. The problems lie in the small local councils who are not paying their local police force on time, fortunately where crime rates are lower. Pickpockets in Barcelona on the Metro? What about the London underground or the NY subway? They are magnets for pickpockets and everyone knows that and I don't know the figures but I would bet that they are proprtionately way lower in Barcelona than London. There are problems but given the circumstances of the country crime rates should have gone through the roof and they haven't. Says a lot for the country but obviously doesn't excuse the crimes that are committed.

Just out of interest who monitors the actions of the local police and if someone had a complaint, to whom would they address their complaint (in writing)? Likewise with the Guardia Civil.

Is there any independent effective regulatory body in place in Spain for each level of policing, to act as reassurance?

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