Highway Robbers

We own a lovely villa on the Costa Blanca North near Denia and have been driving up and down to the villa for the last 12 years. Our journeys have always been well planned and event free other than for the occasional puncture. We have used several different routes just to make a change of scenery and have varied our stopover choices year on year.

This last New Year some friends of ours decided to drive down to the Costas using the coastal motorways due to the winter weather risks of driving across central Spain. When they were at a peage just north of Barcelona someone from a neighbouring car in the queue managed to stab their rear tyre with a knife and induce a slow puncture. Fortunately the lady inside the peage paystation saw this happening and advised our friends to pull over and inspect the damaged tyre. A short time later the police turned up and assisted them with the tyre change utilising their spare "get you home" tyre but unfortunately the perpetrators of the incident managed to get away.

Our friends continued their journey south and after about ten kilometers heard a loud bang from the rear of the car. Another car drew alongside and one of the passengers was waving a reflective jacket and telling them to stop and check their car tyres. They pulled onto the side of the motorway and both opened their respective car doors to inspect any damage. With that the other car stopped as well and the occupants caused a distraction whilst one of their number invaded our friend's Mercedes, stole two handbags, wallet, laptops, mobile phones and credit cards. Upon suddenly seeing the car invader our friend shouted out and immediately returned to their car , closed the doors and the perpetrators drove off. Fortunately our friend had another mobile phone in his pocket and was able to phone the local police who took something like 30 minutes to turn up because they were unable to describe their accurate position along the motorway. The police were very helpful and the friends provided the usual police statements and the police arranged for them and their car to be moved to a nearby hotel so that replacement tyres could be sorted. They continued their journey after a couple of days.

I know that these days these incidents are not unusual and I believe our friends were fortunate to survive the experience without suffering any physical harm, just a mental trauma. Our friends did fit the normal profile of highwayman targets being fit and able retirees driving a quality Mercedes ML350 four wheel drive and with UK registration plates. They were able to communicate satisfactorily with the police and in all fairness are very well experienced world travellers.

This incident begs the questions as to what are the recommended actions if such an incident happens again. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to any lines of defence besides carrying an AK47 !!  What about these new dashboard cameras which appear to be used extensively in Russia and Eastern Europe. UK registration plates appear to be a magnetic attraction to these highwaymen but what can we do about it? It would be useful to find out whether there is any advice available from the Spanish police as to any recommended defensive action or procedures to be adopted in such an event or should we just let such incidents happen without any retaliation?.

We want to continue to enjoy our driving up and down to the Costa Blanca but when events like this happen to close friends it does make us wonder whether we should become frequent flyers with EasyJet and Ryanair. I must admit that taking our own UK registered car to Spain does enable us to transport more luggage and belongings as well as pets and does give us flexibility for touring and having interesting drives home instead of enjoying the hospitality of Gatwick airport.

Any advice or recommendations would be much appreciated before we make our next bookings for Easter!

We have our own ideas as to the ethnic background of the highwaymen and I am sure the police will have their own ideas but I don't believe that is for discussion here for obvious reasons!!!

My best advice is avoid the coastal motorway at all costs especially around Barcelona. These thieves operate all the time in that area and in rest stops along that road. Have done for years. Your reported incident is very common and I sometimes think the police are involved with the crooks.

I never use it, preferring free motorways where there are no compulsory stops, even if it adds a few kilometers to the journey.  I travel twice a year to France by car and have never had a problem after many years driving the route. I would never stop for anyone, even a police officer until I reached a supervised rest stop. Even then I never leave the car unsupervised or unlocked.

A baseball bat under the driver seat is also a very useful deterrent.

My advice is never let everyone exit the car without locking the doors immediately. Always leave someone in the car and be aware. Its the same when refueling the car as you get out you lock your doors before filling the tank and  certainly do not walk over to pay with the doors unlocked. Some modern cars do assist you with these keyless cars so that if you are more than a metre or two away the doors lock. Also a lot of V.W. and Audi cars only unlock the door you are opening when exiting the car.

I also think that all cars should have these cameras so that if the worst should happen, hopefully, you will have the registration plates of the other car.

It is also a good idea to not show any luggage if possible. Keep handbags etc. in the locked boot if possible. Do not keep money and passports together so  make the thiefs job a little harder.

The idea of carrying a baseball bat can be construed as a dangerous weapon and certainly in the UK is an offence. However something like a 'crooklock' in between the front seats is perfectally legal and being metal might do more damage than a wooden baseball bat!

Although we hear a lot about this type of crime it is in fact not that common if you think about the number of cars and the number of reported incidents. However if you happen to be one of those who are attacked it is extreemly unpleasant.

John and Judy first of all let me say I'm sorry to hear what happened to your friends.

Steone is right about committing an offence if you carry an item such as a baseball bat even for the purpose of self defence. In reality even if you decided to do this and became involved in a confrontation there is a real possibility that you will not be able to deter three or four younger individuals who are likely to be used to violent encounters. Put simply, if you don't scare them off quickly the situation is likely to go downhill pretty fast with far more serious consequences. 

The best advice is plan your route, check the latest travel information and forums before setting off and be alert to your surroundings at all times. Taking simple precautions and having a plan to deal with situations like the one described here may not appeal to the have-a-go heroes out there, and hopefully you'll never use it, but it is probably the most sensible way to reduce the risks of what remains, fortunately, a very rare event.

So if someone attacks you, you just lay down and let them do it. The roads of Spain are not the UK and offensive weapon laws of Britain do not apply.. Self defence is common sense and personally I prefer to be prepared. Others must make their own decisions.

No Mickyfinn; you're best defence is to avoid the risk as far as possible and have a plan if something does happen like driving to a service station with lots of people around.

If you personally feel able to take on three or four young guys with nothing much to lose then good luck but you will find Spain has laws regarding weapons and the use of excessive force just like the UK. Personally I'd say it's better to arrive alive than spend you're holiday in a hospital or worse if you are unlucky enough to experience this type of incident. 

I agree it’s preferable to avoid confrontation and I'm not advocating offensive conduct in any way. If you read my reply you will see how I advised the OP how to travel safely through Spain on the roads.  I have spent many years travelling in Europe on the roads. I have been attacked twice, once near Zagreb and once in the south of France and each time the robbers fled when faced with a fight back.

My personal protection is a last resort and in my experience these robbers are inveterate cowards. If you fight back they flee. Their interests are in soft targets and vulnerable naive travellers.

In the UK I carry one of those laminate floor layers lump hammers under my drivers seat, it looks exactly the same as the steel version, but has a toughened rubber head, so shouldn't inflict serious injuries if used against an attacker. I have never had occasion to use it, and trust that this continues to be the case, but better to be safe than sorry.

On one of my journeys there was a very similar attempt on my family and car, close to Barcelona,  in the early evening, the nornal thing heard a bang the car behind flashing his lights and advising pull over

 It  was just getting dark an although I did stop, we all stayed in the locked car and had what I would describe as a proper camera in the car, not a camera phone. I  proceeded to make it obvious that we were recording everything, photographing their car, occupants etc even using the flash and they seemed startled and didn't hang about and I later passed on the photographs to the Police

I also made it clear that I was calling somebody for assistance but  they did try to get me to get out of the car

The motorway was very busy so they were not bothered about the passing traffic

The tyre was not punctured and the Police told me that they throw something at the car to make the noise

If you leave someone in the car and lock the doors when you go to pay at say a petrol station you may find the alarm will go off unless they remain perfectly still A lot of high end cars which are more attractive to robbers are fitted with motion sensors 

If you leave someone in the car and lock the doors when you go to pay at say a petrol station you may find the alarm will go off unless they remain perfectly still A lot of high end cars which are more attractive to robbers are fitted with motion sensors 

Carry one of those kitchen or bathroom cleaners in your car, not illegal, one's with a trigger bottle, if you pull the trigger the range on some of them is about 4 + feet, plenty enough so they cant get close to you, and once it hits the face and eyes, job done.

Pepper spray has been UK legal since April 2014. I've no idea of it's status in Spain.

http://www.bite-back.net/

The company i work for give us these, for dog attacks, would also work on Highway Robbers lol

Pepper spray has been UK legal since April 2014. I've no idea of it's status in Spain.

I think you will find that pepper spray is still illegal to own and use in the UK, classed as an offensive weapon, you cant even carry it for defence, as you cant carry a knife for the same reason.

Dear all

Many thanks for all of your comments and advice. I am veering towards adopting the route planning and the avoiding of exposure to the risk rather than the confrontational approach. I very much like the comments regarding the visible camera and the obvious use of the mobile phone as a serious deterrent from within the locked car. This brings me to wonder whether anyone has any experience of these dashboard cameras / dashcams, any recommended models and whether they can provide any useful images and in all fairness whether the Spanish police are at all motivated to follow up on photo evidence. It was also very useful to learn that one of the distractions is caused by the highwaymen throwing something at the car to cause the bang rather than shooting at the tyres!

I cannot help but wonder about the comments that these incidents have been common in the Barcelona area for many years and they are still happening. This either means that the police have been rather ineffective in catching and prosecuting the perpetrators or alternatively the highwayman trade has proved quite lucrative and has hence encouraged new recruits into the trade! Alternatively there may be a language problem between the police / highwaymen and the legal system. I don't know whether anyone keeps a track of the statistics behind these incidents but it would be interesting to monitor the incidents versus prosecutions performance. At the end of the day I would have thought it would be high on the Spanish governmental agenda to ensure that negatives from this sort of incident are kept well under control so as not to detract from their tourism initiatives.

Anyway, thanks for your inputs so far.

John

The police have caught a lot of these criminals. It just seems that there are so many of them. A couple of years ago the local press had the story where they caught 17 (I think it said they were from South America) of these scrotes after mounting an undercover operation. A story pops up now and again how they have caught them in the act or followed up on tip offs. The other problem is that those in the cars can get away quickly, nip off at the next junction and lose themselves before the police have a chance to even get to the scene. They obviously can't be everywhere at once and there is a lot of road to be covered.

Anyone who thinks the police are in collusion with these people must read the conspiracy theory sites and believe eveyr word.

At these prices you could have one on the front and back window over 4000 unit been sold from this seller  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-HD-Car-Vehicle-Dash-Dashboard-Camera-IR-DVR-Cam-CCTV-Night-Vision-SmartCam-/221409450010?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item338d08181a

Does it always take me to sort these problems out look just get a car fire extinguisher we got pulled over in Alicante so I waited till the person came to the window and just fired it in their face job done perfectly legal.

The assailant was dressed like a little old lady but you can never be to careful 

Love Hugh

So, anyway, my grandma was in Alicante a while back. She was about to tell this bloke he'd left his shopping on the top of the car when he drove off and the bloke squirted a fire extinguisher at her. Some people, huh!