Hi all,

Unfortunatly our Duplex was broken into over the weekend ...

TV, HiFi, microwave, kettle, toaster, blender, hairdryer, Knives, toolbox, drill, wine, spirits and most bizarrely beer from the fridge.

We were not trashed, so I can thankful for this .. perhaps more than one apartment was targeted so check your properties (or ask your management company to do so ..).

Not very nice ..

AlandEve

How dreadful - are you a ground floor property?

Sharon

So sorry to hear that.

How did they get in? At what sort of time?

Steve

We are not a ground floor property, so either a ladder was used to access the balcony or someone was good at gymnastics...

How they entered .. i dont want to post this on a public board (for obvious reasons), so I will send a PM to any registered user who wants to know.

AlandEve

Perhaps they have been reading your recent posts, IE, just returned from 2 weeks, etc etc.

I have lost count of the times when I was a mod that I warned people about too much information on an open forum (anyone can read it).
Infact one of the threads was closed because of it.

We were broken into while we were in London visiting my Mum who has since died.

I hated coming into the house, it felt as if the house had been raped.

We have since got an Alarm, but it still feels strange, & I am still very nervous.

I think I know who did it.

Wendy x

AlandEve
Its clearly upsetting to have happen. It happened in reverse to us some years ago. Our home was broken into after we were away and it takes time to recover (especially at home!). I hope you have Insurance and it pays up. I would like to know how you think they got in to see if there are lessons for us.
George & Rosalia

I've been reading the CE thread for quite a few years now and it never ceases to amaze how many dwellings I could have emptied if I was in the area, and was in the burglary profession. I would have the full address and be Safe in the knowledge that the property was.
1. Unoccupied.
2. Had no alarm, rejas etc. (due to the requests on where to buy them)
3. Had just been filled with Ikeas finest fixtures and fittings

On a further note some in that thread obviously use their real names and state which town in the UK they are from. How hard would it be to ask around town pubs, shops etc if anyone knew Janet & john for example who have bought a property at costa Esuri as you were trying to trace them?

A bit of a long shot possibly depending on where they live. But You would know when they were in Spain and be safe to empty the UK house

Sorry to hear the news... always make sure you double lock your doors as it is easy to go in through the front door if it hasnt been double locked, just ask any locksmith and he will get in your apartment in 1 minute and not by drilling it out...

Over many years I've had experiences of break ins from North to South of Europe.
Actually worse in the North, where properties are extremely remote and the police are even more remote and also very lax.
The first is the worst for a number of reasons,less prepared, thinking it only happens to others,leaving valuable and personal items in the property that could have been secure elsewhere and also the intrusion of privacy.
Whilst my properties are as well protected and alarmed as far as possible, in the case of remote locations, even this isnt a great help if left unoccupied.
Before leaving, I always assume the almost worst possible senario and prepare accordingly, leaving absolutely nothing of much value in the property.
Less expensive every day items of little value are quite easily covered by the insurance.
In recent years I have also avoided buying any large items of great value that could be a headache if left behind, being difficult to easily move elsewhere.
Having said all that, possibly the worst senario is when intruders set fire to houses before leaving, which I have seen happen a few times in Spain.
However amazingly enough,due to their almost all concrete type construction, the basic structures survived very well and were back in use within weeks, or months at the most.
In more recent times I always try to leave family or friends in the property, if leaving for a longish period.
Even if they mess things up a bit, there is no longer anything of value to worry about and an even less likely chance of a break in.

The front doors are not the problem, they are secure enough. The weak spots are the windows and terrace doors because they have or plastic shutters or French wooden doors which can easily be removed or smashed to bits, same goes for the windows. The only solution I see is to place security bars at the windows and a door grill at the terrace doors. (they are called rejas). Drive through Ayamonte town and you´ll see that all the houses have them. (And they´re not always ugly, rejas can be made up in all sorts of designs.)

Metal grills are advisable, but if not of a particular design and especially well installed, the thieves have a very quick and simple way of dealing with them, as I once found out to my cost.

I thought that the Duplexs have a secure gated compound and security guards.

Regards

Dave

Low paid Security Guards have been involved with many break-ins on the CDS. Cleaners who make copies of keys too!

Security guards are well known for being involved in break ins.
One even nicked my car from beside the community entrance one night.
It was a complete write off when it eventually turned up.........