Benidorm Mayor Agustin Navarro and Deputy Gema Amor

Antonio Mayor, President of HOSBEC - the hoteliers association, has added his voice in support of Benidorm Council´s positive action plan on the issue of crime in the resort.

A request has been submitted to Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, the Minister of Justice to speed up the review on sentencing, especially for what is deemed "petty crime" and for cases to be sent to court within 72 hours with custodial sentences handed out. For Benidorm this is directed to the pick pockets which are knowingly operating in the resort, particularly in the Rincon de Loix area.

Benidorm´s Councillor for Commerce, Conrado Hernandez and Jose Marcet, Councillor for Saftey have specifically requested that cases of theft, robbery and vandalism are punished with sentences of between one to three years in prison and in the most serious cases up to four years. Reforms are also required against professional and organized crime, which would include the gangs operating the pea scam - known in Benidorm as either the "pea men" or potato men".

Pea men at work on Avd Mediterraneo

However, Antonio Mayor was quick to point out that this is not just an issue which affects Benidorm, but also major holiday destinations such as Barcelona. He added that "we must act immediately on this problem - it cannot be that those who repeatedly steal wallets are not punished because current legislation is too lenient". He specifically believes that prison sentences are required for repeat offenders of theft - I think that the majority of people would agree with that statement. In fact, headlines in the UK press over the Summer showed that Romanian gangs had specifically moved their operations to London over the Olympics and turf wars had broken out.

After a summer of attacks by the British tabloid media on lack of security and safety in Benidorm, it is important for the Ministry of Interior to also allocate more resources to the police, ie more money. On 30th August Benidorm Mayor Agustin Navarro already raised the issue of policing with representatives of Mariano Rajoy´s government after finding a reduction in funding for next year.

Good site for police kiosk?

Local business owners and tourism representatives have also urged the City Council to adopt preventative measures and increase surveillance, particularly over the Summer months in the "British quarter". The idea of a temporary police station has been mentioned on various occasions which to my mind is certainly a good idea. In fact, I am having a meeting with Gema Amor, the deputy Mayor and also Tourism Councillor to discuss the matter. My proposal, which would be of minimal cost to the Town Hall is to make half of the tourist information office situated outside Morgan´s Tavern and opposite the Flash Hotel into a police station.  It is ideally situated at a busy intersection and would most certainly reassure tourists and visitors by having a police presence in the area.... do you all agree? Please email me your support which I can then present to the Town Hall. Any crime could then be easily reported.
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