Be on your guard

I am sure warnings have been posted on here previously, but to remind all UK drivers going to Spain you should always be aware of various scams that can occur if you are too trusting.

Recently we had a pleasant drive down through France and Spain but whilst passing Valencia we were repeatedly flashed and hooted at with the other driver indicating there was something mechanically wrong.

Stupidly I eventually pulled over and he stopped behind and came around to the bonnet suggesting I open it. I realised this was not a good idea and told him to leave and pulled away again.

Unfortunately we almost immediately developed a puncture which entailed a further stop, on inspection there was a 3 inch gash caused by a knife or similar, obviously done by the guy or his accomplice whilst we were otherwise engaged.

Sure enough within minutes the same car pulled up in front and the guy tried to get my wife out offering her a hi vis jacket, luckily she stood her ground and pushed him away, which was pretty close to oncoming traffic being a right hand drive car.

They eventually left and I had to drive very slowly off the motorway in order to change the tyre.

We are convinced that had they got us out of the car they would have attempted to take anything they could easily lay their hands on such as Sat Nav, Phone, Passports and money.


The driver was NOT Spanish and driving a smart German reg Audi which was probably stolen.

We have since heard of friends who had handbags taken by a smartly dressed guy whilst stopped in a busy service station


Fortunately the drive home was pleasant and uneventful.

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Hi Hugh_man,

WORDS OF WISDOM!

You have to be on your guard when driving in any country for such scams.

Most mondern cars have central looking and can be locked form the inside, I always do this on any long journey and if I have to go into a service station and leave my mrs in the car, I always tell here to lock the doors whilst I'm inside paying for petrol, etc.

When we move to Spain in October and drive down from Santander to Duquesa I will be adopting the same stance, however we will have the added bonus of having our dog with us, and as he is a Rottweiler, I don't think we will have to much problems.

Woofy is as soft as soap but THEY won't know that.

This message was last edited by TechNoApe on 7/23/2008.

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WOOFY ??

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Hi More,

Yes! Woofy!

Or Puppy!

His name is Tyler and he's 8 years old and ways 8.5 stone!

But he behaves like a puppy around family and friends, however behaves as he should when someone rings the door bell or approaches the car, as one poor PC in this country found out!

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As Woofy will have to be registered as a dangerous dog in Spain have you sorted out your police report that you will have to hand over at the police station?

Do you have to get it translated into Spanish?

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Semi, do not get more started again on dangerous dogs please !!

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Having recently read a thread asking how someone can prove they do not have a criminal record when they now live in Spain I thought it might be wise to add a note to Technoape to ensure he adds this to his To Do List.

How you go about achieving this I don't know, the only dangerous animal we have is our 16 year old cat who can get quite agitated when the kettle goes on.  Kettle means milk and if she doesn't get any then my ears take a bashing

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Hi Semi,

You are quite correct about the things you are 'supposed' to do when it comes to the dangerous dogs act.

The amount of people I have spoken to about this during the last six months on this forum, and people we spoke to on our last visit two weeks ago. It is amazing the amount of people who were either oblivious to the law, or new the law and said 'this is Spain and most people don't bother' was quite frankly astonishing!

As far as we are concerned, we will do everything we are 'supposed' to do and then some, as Woofy is part of us and we are NOT going to put him in jeopardy.

On an interesting note, the lawyer who completed on our house agreed that we have to register Woofy, however seemed to know nothing about the 'physical' and 'mental' tests that we as the owners are supposed to go through.

Mind you, what you are saying about proving that I don't have a criminal record back in the UK is news to me, so I'd best get my CRB done before we go, just in case they do need it! My Mrs works for Devon County Council, in a Social Services Department that deals with kids, so she had to have a CRB done a few years ago.

With all this in mind, I'm going to use a lawyer to sort EVERYTHING out when it comes to Woofy!

Methinks I should talk to Maria.

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Anyway, back on topic ....

During our last visit two weeks ago, I heard the following:

A young lady was filling up her car at a petrol station.

Whilst doing so, she was approached by a Spanish woman asking for directions, who led this person AWAY from her car.

When the person she approached returned to her car, she found that her handbag was missing, which contained her purse with all her money, credit cards, mobile phone and PASSPORT.

Luckily for her, the person she was travelling with was in the petrol station and was able to pay for the fuel and use their mobile phone and call the police.

Moral:

Don’t leave your car open and unattended for a split second, and that goes for ANY country, and don’t leave anything in sight when you leave your car.

PS. This was in the Marbella region, and apparently the police said that this wasn’t the 1^st time that this person had struck.

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I'm sorry Techno but some people need their heads examining.

Walking away from her unlocked car, leaving valuables inside on show !!

Talk about learning from your mistakes !

Yes, we must be on our guard but no more so than anywhere else. 

      

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Anyone else amazed at just how many Spaniards leave their engines RUNNING while popping out of the car at a kiosk for ciggies or a paper, for example? One day (when / if I have nobody important in my life who may be upset at the thought of visiting me in jail) I intend to jump in one of these vehicles and make a break for the border - just for kicks!
Years ago, when working for a parcel delivery company in the UK, one of my colleagues inadvertantly left their truck running while making a delivery, and it dissappeared along with all it's cargo. Naturally, they lost their job, but the rest of us learnt the lesson!
I read recently that credit crisis related crime is on the rise, in particular shoplifting of organic chickens (I just love that one - can you imagine some scruffy scally edging up to you in the pub offering you a knocked off chuck?) and siphoning of petrol. Obviously, leaving your car unattended with the engine running is playing right into their hands. 
Tough times indeed, so BE especially ON YOUR GUARD!!!!!!!!

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More,

I agree with what you say:

"Yes, we must be on our guard but no more so than anywhere else."

As we believe that crime is far worse here in the UK than in Spain.

Hence it's one of the many reasons why we are leaving the UK and moving to Spain this October.

Roberto,

I might be a Techno Ape, but your a Mad ole Monkey:

"I intend to jump in one of these vehicles and make a break for the border - just for kicks!"

Indeed! You need to set an example to those people who siphon petrol and steal Organic Chickens.

On the subject of these chickens, If someone in Spain offers me a NON Organic Chicken of a back of a lorry, I assume they won't be knocked off?

 Mind you, I didn't think we MADE NON Organic Chickens, I've heard of RoboCop but RoboChick!?!?!?!


This message was last edited by TechNoApe on 7/24/2008.

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Stealing is wrong - but some people are just asking for it, and deserve what comes to them. Hence I intend to prove my point by driving off in someone's shiny BMW when they leave it idling outside the supermarket! (Of course, I never will)
Come on Techno, admit it, there are times when you're tempted too?

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Na! I wouldn't want to nick anybodys shiny BMW for two reasons:

1) Knowing my luck the local police would stop me down the road an issue ME with a ticket for leaving my car parked outside a supermarket whilst leaving the engine running!
2) I wouldn't want anyone nicking my nice shinny BMW.

However, I must admit I have been tempted to nick the keys from the ignition and throw them into the middle of the N-340 and watch the driver stand in the middle of the road, playing with the on coming traffic!

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A-HA!! I just knew there had to be some primordial primate instincts lurking somewhere! YES YES YES! I would just love to lob the delivery driver's keys into some distant bushes, when they leave their motors running at 7.30 am outside our building while delivering to the supermarket downstairs. Apart from doing unnecessary damage to the environment, if their employers knew just how much fuel they waste like this.........and that's apart from the noise and air pollution we suffer upstairs. And the water board have cottoned on to the fact there's a parking restriction here between 8 and 10 am for deliveries, so use the space to park once a week in order to wash the street - which necessitates leaving the engine running for an hour, to power their pumps!

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