Thanks to the crisis, one of the few business sectors that is growing in the province of Málaga is the illegal contraband in tobacco and alcohol. Of course, Málaga isn’t the only province where this is happening, nor is the phenomenon anything new, because smuggling is as old as the hills and always flourishes when times are hard.

What makes Málaga such a breeding ground, though, is its proximity to the province of Cádiz, or more precisely, Gibraltar, which has always been a smugglers haven. Is it any wonder, therefore, that the police have been very active on this front? Take February, for example, with the Policía Local operation code named Operación Resaca (which has two translations, by the way; undertow or hangover – take your pick.) This police ‘net’ bagged no fewer than 40,000 bottles of wonky alcohol – the operation was so big that they ended up handing it over to the Polica Nacional.

The Guardia Civil – not to be outdone – have confiscated 600,000 packets of cigarettes since January… and we are only talking about the province of Málaga, Ladies and Genlemen.

So, how do these figures compare with previous years? Well, the figures for just the first quarter of 2012 are greater than the whole of 2011… and that is just what the police have confiscated, which is just a drop in the ocean of the amount of ‘merchandise’ moving in the province.

One sector that is over the moon with the hyperactive police operations is the Málaga Association for Tobacconists, whose Chairman, Mario Espejo, has expressed brimming gratitude, owing to the damage that tobacco smuggling is doing to his trade. The fact is, each time the Government hikes taxes on cigarettes, smugglers rub their nicotine-stained mitts gleefully, as it increases the demand for their ‘products.’ Bear in mind that the cost of an average packet of cigarettes has gone up a euro in the last three years (33% +/-). Anyway, the result in Málaga is that one in five packets sold is contraband; well above the national average, which is one in twelve.

Incidentally, do tax increases not seem shortsightedly counterproductive to you? The Government increases taxes because less revenue is coming in, which means that people can afford to buy less and thus less tax is generated. Never mind, they’re supposed to know what they are doing, we can suppose.

(News: Malaga, Costa del Sol, Andalucia)