Moses2013

Where you have more people, you have more thefts, especially pickpockets in Barcelona, Madrid etc.. I doubt that it just occurs where the expats live though and anti-social behaviour has nothing to do with expats either.

amideislas

That may be true, but in general, I find the Spanish to be a bit morally less inclined. They really seem to despise that kind of thing. There are other things which many Spanish take a bit different view on, which we might find morally upsetting, such as animal rights, or even the lack of guilt for wholly misrepresenting a property they sell you at well-over-market-price, but petty theft seems to be a big no-no.

Dick Dasterdly

Barcelona, pickpocket capital of the world | Daily Mail Online

https://www.worldnomads.com/travel-s...l-of-the-world

I read an article about it recently and I believe that the main problem is that the law is an ass.
If no violence occurs then the thieves cannot be detained or imprisoned so there are lots of professional thieves out there who have committed many hundreds of thefts and the minute they walk out of the cop shop it's back to business as usual again.

EdinWigan

What about street robbery , against the individual? (Muggings) possibly a Alicante City perspective, or wider will do

amideislas

Two can play:

Britain named as one of Europe's crime hotspots · Survey finds highest rate of burglary in the EU

Brussels is 'EU burglary capital'

SCOTLAND AND HOLLAND WORST IN EUROPE FOR BURGLARY

More than 15,000 Burglaries in Norway

Denmark has second most break-ins in EuropeFrankfurt Germany's biggest crime city

cricketman

Pickpocketing in tourist areas and Barcelona/Madrid is a big problem in Spain, but this isnt mugging as there is no confrontation or violence

All other crimes Spain scores very well on. Across them all, it is the safest country in Europe and always has been

But, you must take precautions of course, especially when living in an area full of foreigners. Foreigners make up 8% of the population but 50% of the prison population!

Dick Dasterdly

My oh my, you have been busy,
..I wasn't really looking to play games and as the topic and this forum relate to Spain, I just thought it worth mentioning to avoid any undue complacency which may have resulted from previous posts.

I think the second link I posted contains some excellent advice about how the various scams are perpetrated, but the main thing to remember is if you are approached or have any distraction at all however innocent it may appear, the first thing to do is keep a tight hold of your wallet or handbag.

I presume handbag snatching is classed as pick pocketing and is probably the most common crime of that type. However it may get to the stage where it's best to let go, rather than get dragged along the street and injured when the thief is using a car or M/c. Whether or not this is also classed as pick pocketing rather than a crime involving violence, I know not ?

Dick Dasterdly

Bloody foreigners, to blame for everything, eh C'man ?

Now, I just forget, where did you say you were from ?

amideislas

All I know is that burglaries and petty street crimes in my neighbourhood and virtually all other traditional Mallorquin towns are pretty low - it's usually front page news if there is a burglary or other petty crime at all. And the locals just don't seem to have it in them. Just not their way.

But just over there in Calvia, the expat capitol of Mallorca (I've lived there), you need to keep things pretty well bolted up. Burglaries are very common, petty crimes, etc...

Now, I'm not suggesting that Brits or any one nationality are the perps. But I do sense that the centuries-old values that prevail in the traditional Spanish communities are still pretty prevalent.

And as far as news reports, I do find it a bit amusing that virtually every major city is the "European Capitol" of crime.

Longlegpete

It stands to reason that rural isolated properties are at more risk of burglary, theft etc, from my time in Spain i would say crime is no greater than in the UK and as has been said is generally lower.

Rural theft in the UK is a huge problem, in fact when gas oil was at a higher price people were scared to order heating oil because the lorries were being followed, then in a few days your tank was empty, the NFU have a huge campaign to warn and advice farmers so i would not feel that Spain is any different, you have to lock/alarm all that you have just as you do anywhere.

We have had a burglary in Spain some 5 years ago and in the UK some 6 years ago, we have much better locks, good monitored alarms and are carefull about what we do/ show and have had no problems since, make your place look like a hard target and they will go somewhere else

jimenato

Damned immigrants, huh? Same in the UK - keep 'em out I say.

cricketman

I am only stating a fact. Obviously I a a foreigner myself

By the way, only about 20% of the UK population are foreigners compared to 50% in Spain. It is a massive problem here!

Dick Dasterdly

So foreigners are a massive problem making up 50% of the Spanish population ?

Yet according to these figures only about 12.5 %, one quarter of your guesstimate.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Spain

Statistics, statistics

jimenato

I thnk he left out "in prison".

Dick Dasterdly

Not sure what the present situation is, but a couple of years back half of them were building prisons to keep the other half locked up,
as all the prisons were full to overflowing.

I think what would please C'man, is if they built a big fence right around the Costa del Crime and called it an open prison.

Bloody foreigners, lock them all up I say.