EnglishPatriot

I have noticed that pretty much all houses and businesses in Spain have bars on the windows. Even in the most rural villages where you would think crime wasn't a huge problem, bars on the windows are as common as in the towns and cities. To a British person this seems strange as in the UK even the roughest council estates don't tend to have bars on the windows. Most British people would consider installing bars on the windows to be an excessive measure.

Are the Spanish particularly paranoid about crime compared to British people?

stuboy

I believe it's more to do with insurance premiums than anything else.

The Spanish are no more or less paranoid about crime than the average Brit.

bxpuser24710519

You will find rejas on the windows at least 3 or 4 storeys high on older properties as burglars would only go about 4 floors up. I think they stem from the time there was no actual window just the bars.

My insurance company ask if you have bars and I think they may influence the price favourably.

Lenox

Bars 'rejas' are pretty normal on windows. There are just part of a house's exterior. Find some pretty ones!

Kenwoodlad

I always assumed they had bars because in hot weather you want to leave windows open but not let the burglars in.

Rosemary

My neighbours told me that this was the origins of the bars. One of my neighbours has recently had a beautiful tall locking bar gate put into her doorway so I asked her why and was told that it was so that she could work anywhere in the house with her front door wide open for air.

My insurance company will not insure houses that do not have bars on the ground floor windows.

Rosemary

pete_l

I've driven round some pretty rough areas of Liverpool, London and Manchester (Wynthenshawe ) where I kept my car doors locked at all times. In those places there were lots of houses with bars on the windows and steel front-doors, though whether those were to discourage burglars or rival drug gangs I cannot say.

My personal expeience of Spain, living in the campo, is that there seem to be many more people "trying their luck", poking around properties, nicking anything outside that isn't bolted down, trying to force your door and hoping to prise a window open than I ever, EVER encountered living in suburban England.
So I don't think it's paranoia, I think it's just that they need these measures to counteract crime. Similarly, not being allowed to take bags into shops - I can only assume that's because the shops would otherwise be prone to unacceptable levels of theft. That's another aspect of Spain that's "foreign" to Brits.

HBG

It's quite simple really. Poverty breeds crime and in poor countries people have bars on their windows to keep out the burglars.

But Spain is no longer poor and most new houses don't have bars on the windows.

Dick Dasterdly

Err, which Spain is that then ?

andyrich666

I think in the UK you are not allowed, we tried to rent a shop in Colchester, been closed for 4 years, we had everything in place but the council would not let us have shutters, the shop is still empty.

I don't think its a case of paranoia, I am a extremely paranoid about being robbed and if I could have bars and shutters I would, I think it just comes down to different councils, my first experience of it was in France of how different things are, they have shutters on their windows, I always thought it was strange we don't.

I pushed it in my own home with a solid steel front door, its not liked by the Council Police or Fire services, they have wrote plenty of letters but never actually done anything about it.

I like the strength of the doors in the properties I have seen in Spain, I also prefer Windows that slide and not open

Lynn R

It has been the norm for houses in Spain to have rejas on windows, at least on the ground floor, for many years, so I don't think it's a measure which has been introduced to combat increased levels of crime. Yes, there are certainly many burglaries taking place from houses and not just in the campo, they happen in cities, towns and on urbanisations as well. My house here in Spain was broken into just over 5 years ago, but then again so was the house I lived in in the UK once, plus we had one attempted break-in foiled when the next door neighbour's dog started barking.

Not being allowed to take bags into shops is "foreign" to Brits - but another difference is not seeing security guards on duty in Mercadona (although they do have security staff in the shopping centres).

Regarding the newer houses, yes, I have seen quite a few around here which don't have rejas, where they have the newer type of windows with lockable security blinds. Personally I prefer my rejas and persianas as I think they let more light and air into the room with the windows open.

JB80

Hmmm... The insurance thing makes sense at least it does economically anyway.
I was thinking it was a throwback to times under a different regime, I don't know.

Personally I'm more concerned with burning alive trapped behind bars at night than the odd burglar and would rather use a fly screen to let the air in than faff about with keys all the time.

Rosemary

My friends are stunned that we do not have persianas at our windows in the UK because they see it as imperitive as a barrier against rain not as something to deter burglars.

Rosemary

olivefarmer

Have the reja on your "fire escape" hinged and locakable for when you go out/away.

HBG

The Spain where a frozen chicken costs the same as anywhere else in Europe. Never mind the fancy graphs, falsified unemployment levels, worthless opinions from economists; judge it by the cost of a frozen chicken.