False-Alarm Terrorist Attack: an empty car with a false number plate parked badly outside Guardia Civil barracks, home to 17 families of the law, can only mean one of two things. It’s either a) a badly parked car with a false number plate or b) a terrorist attack. The Guardia Civil picked option b. And so began the anti-terrorist operation involving not only the Guardia Civil and the National Police Service but also Bomb Specialists, Sniffer dogs, Fireman and the Civil Protection.
They cordoned off the only part of Avenida Salobreña that was not dug up due to road works and had traffic, in the middle of the afternoon on the 21st of August and created widespread panic throughout the neighbourhood. A man with a loudspeaker instructed residents to ‘close and move away from the windows,’ while the bomb squad investigated the scene further. One agent was even heard shouting ‘Get away from here, its going to explode’ at a group of over-curious onlookers (always remain calm as they say).
It wasn’t long however before the highly trained team of sniffer dogs came back with the conclusion that there were indeed no explosives in the vehicle.
Shortly after along came Rosa, the oblivious owner of the car and tourist from Mallorca. She claimed that she was given no other choice but to park there because she simply couldn’t find a parking space anywhere else (fair enough, although that doesn’t explain why the car was so badly parked in this chosen spot). She also said that she had no idea the number plate didn’t match. Coincidentally, it turns out that it was just a mistake by the manufacturers who had a mix up at the factory.
The man with the loudspeaker then announced that ‘there is no more danger’ and ‘you can now all go back to normality.’ What would they have done without him?