Brian Kirby Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Very rotten luck, my sympathies. You are clearly still very shaken. However, the area where our anonymous bullet was robbed is over 50k SW from Barcelona, so warnings about avoiding Barcelona, and the Barcelona area, may not convey a sufficient warning to others. It seems it may be wiser to avoid the A7 into Spain from Perpignan altogether for the time being. I'd guess most folk will be travelling at least as far south as Alicante so, as Bruce implies, entering at the western end of the Pyrenees, via San Sebastian, or even via St Jean Pied de Port and Col de Roncaveaux/Puerto de Ibañeta to Pamplona - if snow free - may be a safer bet at present. However, it will have to be monitored, as it is likely the highwaymen will just follow the traffic. It is also disturbing that this is now happening in winter, targeting Europe's snowbirds, because my understanding, hitherto, has been this was mainly a summer problem targeting more general tourists. Last thought. I'd strongly suggest writing to your MEP. They should pass this through to the Spanish authorities with a request for enquiries to be made. If you have a police report for insurance purposes attach a copy to the MEP and add your criticism of the attitude of the police concerned to the incident, giving as much relevant detail as you possibly can. The officers concerned seem to be in need of a little "re-training". It may be worth emphasising how shocked you are, and how disappointed that such a thing could happen in such a wonderful country, making special mention that following your return home you have contacted friends who advise this now is a very common experience in the area around Barcelona and is being widely publicised on UK internet sites. There used to be a huge gypsy camp near Figueres that, rightly or otherwise, was commonly blamed for most of the trouble around the Costa Brava. The fact that the car had French plates doesn't mean the occupants were necessarily French. I accept that they spoke to you in French, but you were about 150k into Spain by the time you were robbed, which seems a long way for a casual robbing awayday. Possibly French "gentlemen of the road", but more probably a nicked car. Be a bit silly to mount that stunt in your own car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Just to add our sympathies BG..........What rotten luck :-S.....................I hope it doesn't put you of going South again ;-)............ A timely warning for those of us planning on heading South 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 As I said above - This problem is not new - I first met a guy who had been done the same way in 1997. The police weren't interested then and have continued to be just as pathetic. However if you still had some of your money after the thieves had got away then they would be interested as they could also manufacture a fine for some trumped up transgression and have their pound of flesh too. We call the run from Perpignon to just south of Valencia - "Thieves Alley" - and avoid it like the plague. Prefer (if weather conditions are ok, to use the route through the Pyrenees using the Vielha tunnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Take as many precautions as you like, full tanks of fuel, taking pics, not opening doors etc etc, you name it, they're all in there. But, if someone's desperate enough they'll get past these hurdles. It is, for me anyway, just a case of doing your best and reducing the risk but still living a life. Reading some comments on here, as well meant as they are, will suggest to some that Barcelona and its surrounding m'ways are no go areas. Pay your money take your (informed) choice as ever. A few years back we had to overnight at a hotel (long story) in Le Havre. Before anyone sucks in their collective cheeks and mutters "pah, Le havre, what did he expect, it was a necessary evil. We took advice from reception and parked the van in full view of their CCTV cameras, near an operating security floodlight, and removed all possessions from what the eye could see. It still got broken into. Lessons to be learned? None - what else could you do short of sitting in the van all night wide awake? Moral of the story? Bloody obvious really, you cannot secure everything, all of the time in this life, Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 1footinthegrave - 2011-12-17 3:23 PM Bang them up, throw away the F******g key. err They've not actually been caught Victor *-) If they had been caught they could be put in jail costing £55,000 a year plus court costs, and come out worse than they went in. But, as I say, its hypothetical because they have not been caught. Sorry for the repetition, but I know you're thick ;-) Back to to reality. I do know what its like to be mugged because it happened to me, about 8am one morning in Florence, about 20 years ago. I put UK pounds into a cash machine near the Uffici gallery, and got Italian Lire. I was followed by 4 very small children who started pestering me and trying to put their hands in my pockets. I was a young man who could overpower them easily. Nevertheless, when they have got 4 pairs of hands, and you have only got one pair, you soon find you can't keep their hands out of your pockets for long. Most of my money was in my wallet in a shirt breast pocket. I kept one hand firmly clamped on my wallet pocket so they didn't get it, and tried to fend off the 4 children as best I could with the other. This went on for about half a minute, then I heard a man shout something in a foreign language. I never saw him and don't know who he was or what he said. But the children fled instantly. I found they had taken the remains of my English currency from another pocket, about £80. I went to the police station by the cathedral to report it. A policewoman, who spoke perfect english (this is a city full of English speaking tourists) took my statement and informed me I was the eleventh person to make a similar complaint that morning, and was the only one of the eleven who had not lost all the money they had on them. The children are usually from travellers camps, trained to steal by their parents, because they are below the age of criminal responsibility. (Incidentally I heard about 18 moths afterwards a travellers camp near Florence had been attacked and set on fire, certainly nothing to do with me in case you are wondering.) PS: The police will only put resources into investigating theft if there is a reasonable chance of getting a result. Realistically, whats the chance of catching the motorway robbers with the info you have :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Peter James - 2011-12-17 6:28 PM 1footinthegrave - 2011-12-17 3:23 PM Bang them up, throw away the F******g key. err They've not actually been caught Victor *-) If they had been caught they could be put in jail costing £55,000 a year plus court costs, and come out worse than they went in. But, as I say, its hypothetical because they have not been caught. Sorry for the repetition, but I know you're thick ;-) ( What a thoroughly nasty individual you must be, the guy gets robbed, then you appear to try to justify that kind of action and tell us to expect more of it, then call me thick, you say your were robbed as well, what a shame but I guess you were very understanding and gave them a few extra bob in case they too had no benefits, by the way you don't know me at all so keep your pathetic comments to yourself. Happy Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgain Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 dont take any notice of the number plates, last year i had a romanian registered lorry try to run me of the road outside barcelona, using similar tactics, my wife took photos of him, and the back of the lorry,when he realised what we were doing he was off up the first slip road, but it was very hairy at the time, you dont need a 44ton truck trying to run you into a layby to be robbed, the best advice is to take photos of them, and make sure you let them see what you are doing.just because he had romanian plates does not mean he is from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Sorry about your misfortune. However with the recent developments with the veto of the Euro rescue package and the Verbal mud-slinging of the politicians the Europeans and in particular the police may have an even more apathetic approach to Britons in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgain Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 here we go again,another pathetic squabble between 2 individuals, the poor bloke who started this thread was trying to advise others of his misfortune, not have to read some of the stupid comments that are starting to appear, and no i am not going to get drawn into them.try to be sensible for once *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Not a good idea to actually do it just imagine the look on their little faces if you produced a six shooter and shot them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I wonder if they wave to each other when they pass on the road? It does get a bit tedious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Brown Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Better to let people think you are an idiot as go to print and prove it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 mgain - 2011-12-17 7:31 PM here we go again,another pathetic squabble between 2 individuals, the poor bloke who started this thread was trying to advise others of his misfortune, not have to read some of the stupid comments that are starting to appear, and no i am not going to get drawn into them.try to be sensible for once *-) Perhaps if Peter James had even had the decency to say he was sorry to hear of the guy's misfortune in the first place, and then NOT followed up his post by calling me THICK for which there is no justification these situations would not arise, but I would not hold your breath. You may be right about not reacting, but stay on these forums long enough and it will test anyone's patience. Again I'm very sorry to hear of the guys misfortune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 This is my third attempt to post on this thread – I get so far and then it disappears into the ether. Anyway I will try again! So sorry to hear of your awful experiences BG. As you do not mention a passenger, maybe you were a lone traveller so not at all easy to take photos or use the phone as you are driving fast to outwit the “bandits”? I travel alone and I am becoming more and more nervous of driving in Spain. I know several people who have been hijacked and, of course, a woman alone is a soft target. One female friend swears she was targeted at a toll booth. Obviously it is not only the AP-7 which is so bad but the A9 in France has gained the same reputation. For my part, I was “relieved” of my purse containing cash and credit cards etc. (which I was able to stop fairly immediately) so nowhere near as distressing as your experience. Even so it was quite upsetting and time consuming. This happened in Salou and the visits, yes plural, to the police station were not easy. No English-speakers, which was surprising as the town was crawling with Brits, so much so that we could not find a Spanish menu anywhere! Undoubtedly the police must have had to deal with unruly Brits at times. Fortunately on the first visit the policewoman spoke French. After that I took my very pretty grand-daughter who speaks Spanish and they were very anxious then to be of service, so much so that one of them came rushing after us to engage her in conversation again!! Incidentally, I was unable to claim on my holiday insurance (another long and distressing incident) but eventually had some recompense from Sentinel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 1footinthegrave - 2011-12-17 8:27 PM Perhaps if Peter James had even had the decency to say he was sorry to hear of the guy's misfortune in the first place, and then NOT followed up his post by calling me THICK for which there is no justification these situations would not arise, but I would not hold your breath. You may be right about not reacting, but stay on these forums long enough and it will test anyone's patience. Again I'm very sorry to hear of the guys misfortune. Just a rough count and found 14 other posts that didn't specifically say we were sorry Bulletguy got robbed. I guess we all thought that was obvious. Unless of course you are thick ;-) Did you miss the other 14 posts by the way? So just for you Victor I will say I am sorry Bulletguy got robbed. Is that better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 I'm disappointed by some of the comments about the Police here in Spain. Can we be clear on the language realities of travelling across the Channel from the little island of Britain into the Rest Of The World. The Police here in Spain are Spanish. The language of Spain is Spanish. The Police speak fluent Spanish. In addition in the Barcelona region, the regional language is Catalan. The Police in that region speak fluent Catalan as well as their fluent Spanish. The language of this country is not English. It is Spanish. The Police in the Barcelona region of Spain do not need to speak English or any other foreign language; they speak both fluent Spanish and fluent Catalan too. In truth, if you, as a foreigner, go to a Spanish Police station and cannot speak Spanish, you are always going to have big problems. Because whilst English is the main language in England, it is not in Spain. Forms are in Spanish. Reports are in Spanish. Questions are in Spanish. It would be the same for a Spanish visitor to Britain going into a British Police station, whilst only being able to speak Spanish. The Police in Britain speak English; they do not need to learn to speak Spanish. Spanish is not one of the languages of their country. Forms are in English. Reports are in English. Questions are in English. Now, you may get lucky and there might be a Police Officer on duty in a Spanish police Station who can speak THREE languages fluently, and so can talk to you in your foreign language, the only one that you can speak; but it's most unlikely. Mostly they just get really really p*ssed off after a while with foreign people just shouting at them in the one and only, strange, non-Spanish foreign language that they ever learned; which happens to be neither of the TWO that the Police Officer can already speak fluently. I'm sorry about that, but that's the harsh reality of life in almost all countries outside of Britain and ex-British colonial territories. It seems to me that Brits visiting Spain and complaining about "bloody foreigners" who can't speak English is a bit rich, when they are NOT the foreigners, it's THEIR country. If you can't speak the national language of the country you chose to go to, (Spain, or anywhere else) then maybe the best thing would be to first pay to engage a translator locally to go with you to any essential visits to the Police Station/hospital/wherever else. There are plenty who advertise such a service in those foreign countries, on the internet, in local papers, often on noticeboards, or even in such establishments themselves. Often the local British Consulate has lists of people/Companies who can provide that service. Just my personal view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightrider Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 I thought arguments and spats were the sole preserve of the Chatterbox forum? seems they are not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 knight of the road - 2011-12-18 1:59 AM I thought arguments and spats were the sole preserve of the Chatterbox forum? seems they are not. I'm very pleased that BGD has cleared that up. I will never take my Chinese phrase book to Spain again. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 I agree with Bruce. If I need help whilst in France it's not the locals responsibility to have acquired communication skills to make my life easier. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Robinhood - 2011-12-18 8:57 AM Can I point out Mr.Hood that this is an English speaking forum in an English speaking country, and most of the members are British. Not Chinese. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 When non English speakers appear at a Police station in this country my impression is that the Police find a translator. Surely if a crime is committed in Spain the authorities should take that crime seriously and not discriminate between those who speak Spanish and those who do not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 A bit off topic but over here there is a thing called languageline. If soemone needs to talk to the police (or other social service i think), the officer will dial a premium rate number and then input a code for what ever language is required. The person on the other end of the phone then acts as the interpreter. I'm surprised that other EU countries don't have a similar system. Rog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Mrs Batty Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Hopesy - 2011-12-18 10:28 AM A bit off topic but over here there is a thing called languageline. If soemone needs to talk to the police (or other social service i think), the officer will dial a premium rate number and then input a code for what ever language is required. The person on the other end of the phone then acts as the interpreter. I'm surprised that other EU countries don't have a similar system. Rog Thats a great idea Rog, could be introduced in all countries via police radios and police stations. The fought of being long termers from the middle of next year and travelling through numerous countries with our only basic grasp of English is a little worrying ! Wonder if the Spanish police could and a interpreter on hand that is fluent in 'Pug' ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Firstly, I'd like to say how sorry I am for what happened to you BG and hope it won't put you off going over there again. I've been trying to get one of the electronic translators you can buy. I only heard about them on another forum the other day but, with Christmas everyone seems to have sold out and as we are off soon didn't want to risk ordering one on the internet in case it doesn't arrive in time. This would at least give some communication skills in an emergency. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Although not up to speed with these things probably because I'm a bit thick according to some on here,but my daughter tells me you can get an "app" on a smart phone that gives you instant translation, provided that is you can access the internet at the time, might be worth a look for others that don't have the lingo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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