Salobreña has suffered from a series of burlaries at restaurants on the paseo since summer. A total of 13 establishments have been targeted; twelve restaurants and one supermarket.
The thieves act at night, forcing the locks on metal shutters and doors, according to the Chairman of the Asociacion de Comerciantes for the beach area, Modesto Sánchez. Once into the premises the prime targets are gambling and cigarette machines, as well as bottles of spirits. He deduces that by the form of operation, the thieves visit the business during the day to case them (reconnoiter).
The Guardia Civil, who have received eight denuncias for break ins from the paseo in the last month, believe that they will soon have a lead on who is behind these burglaries. But the proprietors are not waiting for results from that sector but have taken to forming security patrols, which have been joined by some private security personnel from nearby urbanizaciones, as well as counting on Guardia Civil patrols.
One business owner recounted, “I went home about one in the morning but when I returned four hours later they had already turned my business over. The burglars had gained access by breaking one of the sliding door shutters and deactivated the alarm. they emptied the gambling machine, the cigarette vending machine, as well as a change dispensing one. They also made off with several bottles of spirits. What they didn’t touch was the TV, the computer and the hi-fi.
Shortly after this, he received another ‘visit’ but the alarm went off and within five minutes the Guardia Civil arrived, thwarting the burlars.
According to the police union for the Policia Local, citizen security had diminished because of a drop in numbers within the police force: “At night there is only one policeman on duty at the station, where he has to remain during his shift. The Guardia Civil try to make up the shortfall, but it isn’t sufficient, the union spokesman claims.
The Chairman of the Asociacion de Comerciantes also blames the Councillor for Citizen Safety, Mari Carmen Rodríguez, who had declared that there had only been four burglaries to date: “I don’t think that she can be that badly informed,” reasoned the association Chairman. He also claimed that they were being muzzled by the Town Hall, who had instructed them not to talk publicly about the incidents as it would cause social alarm.
(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)