Police in T-Shirt and caps walking down the Avd Med

The National Police were out in force along the Avd Mediterraneo in Benidorm today, warning holiday makers about the "Pea Men" and the scam which they operate.

About a dozen off duty National Police officers from Benidorm, who had volunteered their day off, handed out leaflets to anyone passing by and explained what the scam entailed - it was surprising how many were unaware of this activity! They donned special t-shirts and caps of the National Police to identify themselves to the public. Unfortunately non of the gangs happen to be around - most unusual on a Wednesday, which is market day and so as always, was positively heaving with people.

Talking to Manuel Soler

I spoke at length to Manuel Soler, the General Secretary of the SUP for the whole of the Valencian Community - the SUP is the Unified Police Union and he is based here in Benidorm. The National Police are the ones which have to deal with this type of crime and they are getting frustrated with the constant criticism aimed at them about the lack of action to address this problem.

Until the law is changed there is very little that the police can do - however, the Town Hall could have passed a local by-law quite easily effectively outlawing this type of criminal activity by all accounts! It is a mystery to the National Police why it hasn´t happened and that they are having to wait for a change in the national law before they have any real powers to deal with this ongoing problem.

The first draft has already been passed without any opposition in the Senate and has now been passed to Congress. The final stage is passing it through the "Boletin Oficial del Estado" (Official Bulletin of the Government) - which Manuel is confidant will happen soon. All laws and regulations of the country are written into this "official gazette" which is published every day - except Sunday and upheld by the courts.

Canal 9 film crew reporting for the Spanish news

One emerging problem is that these gangs appear to be recruiting British nationals, generally preying on the unemployed ex-pats. They give them a percentage of any money which the gang manage to extract from the unsuspecting passers by. This makes it easier for the gang to engage British holiday makers if they see a "fellow ex-pat" stopping and supposedly taking part.  The leaflet which they handed out was in all the main European languages and the police officers spoke English explaining the scam to many British holiday makers. They printed the leaflets themselves out of their own union funds - goes to show quite how committed they are to eradicate this problem.

Leaflet handed out

Canal 9 - a major Spanish television station were there with camera crew and reporter as well as the press - not only the local British press but also El Pais - a heavyweight Spanish daily highlighting the importance placed on the matter.
Jose Maria Benito, Police Inspector and the official spokesperson for the SUP arrived from Madrid to show his support for the campaign saying that it was an important issue for the town as tourism is a major source of income and so imperative to make it a safe environment for visitors.

 Once passed in law penalties will be harsh as it will be classified as "organised crime" - fines of up to 3000 euros and prison sentences of between one and six years will be the norm... hopefully that will eradicate one major scourge of the resort! It was reassuring to witness that the National Police are taking the issue so seriously.

A final word of warning - DO NOT stop to watch if you see these gangs, just carry on walking and ignore them... they are pro´s and you will NEVER win against them!