Hi everyone. We have been robbed of almost all our electrical goods! Dell laptop, 2 modems, 3 games machines, Playstation, GameCube, many games, 2 DVD players, DVD player for car, walkie talkies, 3 mobile phones, mans bicycle. We went to the police station in Tortosa, they came out the next day to take fingerprints. Look out!

Oh qué miseria! Thanks for warning, but where do you live?

Sorry to hear about this.
As Jote has asked, which area do you live in?
Looks like we all need to be on the look out again.

There was a break-in at a finca in Benifallet on or around Halloween (when the full moon was out).

They took all of the electrical goods, fridge/freezer, TV, washing machine, etc.

Not Brit on Brit crime this time as they cut all the UK plugs off before they took them.

The silly season starts again….

wrote on Nov 5^th, 2012 at 2:02pm:

There was a break-in at a finca in Benifallet on or around Halloween (when the full moon was out). They took all of the electrical goods, fridge/freezer, TV, washing machine, etc. Not Brit on Brit crime this time as they cut all the UK plugs off before they took them. The silly season starts again….

you could be right as the fruit pickers are all over the place again but i still think some off the brits are to blame >:( dont trust anyone you dont know

Any Nationality could have cut the plugs off! even fellow Brits!
Most people living here would change the plugs and use Spanish type anyway.
Think we all need to be on our guard, and take note of strangers and / or strange vehicles near our properties.

Sorry to hear this news - it is never fun, and we all live with the threat hanging over us.

We have been broken into three times - two were simple cash n grabs, and certainly not from the indigenous population - the third, well the jury is still out.

The problem is always that when there are more people out and about picking olives carobs etc, then there are more people to see what you have, and decide to relieve you of it.

Each time we have been broken into, it has been during the olive harvest, with workers on the neighbouring fincas.

Extrapolate from that what you will....

In the end, staying safe and reducing the opportunities is the best way forward for us. We actively 'spot' and photo any strange cars, as do our neighbours. You have to help yourselves here on the prevention side, I am afraid.

We are in the campo near Aldover.

So sorry to hear of your break in, it is so heart breaking.

I've said this before but -Get an Alarm!
Here's simple one for £19 that will silently call your mobile:-
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170897396030
or a more complete one for £42:-
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160866010420
Just put a sim in and set up your mobile number.
The peace of mind alone is worth it.
By the way, these work off low DC voltages so you don't necessarily need an inverter working if you are in the campo.

Unfortunately most of these alarms work off motion sensors, so they are no use to those of us who have cats and dogs in the house. Otherwise it gets more complicated and expensive.
They can be useful to those people who are away a lot though. Does anyone know the statistics on people being broken into and whether they are holiday homes, or permanent?

Happens anywhere to anyone at anytime.
You just have to try and make your property as secure as possible, and keep your eyes and ears open for strangers around.
Some Catalan neighbours, living (not on holiday), in a property on the edge of a busy road, were broken into during the day time a few years ago. They had everything taken.
Cheeky lot had climbed over, opened the big gate, and driven into their drive, behind a wall, so were not noticed by passers by.
Even people who have dogs to guard property, have had them beaten, and been robbed. If they want to rob you they will.

It appears that alarms and dogs are not going to stop these people,as if no one responds to the alarm immediately,they then have as long as they want to break in.My neighbours dog was just removed beforehand.I have also heard it numerous times were the Police then ask, were is the burgulary and when you reply in the campo, they just shrug their shoulders and say what do you expect living there !

FatPhil, having a ding-a-ling alarm is'nt much use. Get one that phones you and / or sends a text message. Mine tells me which sensor has triggered, including ones outside and in the genny shed and garage. If I can't get back quickly then I can phone neighbours. If you have pets then you need to choose suitable sensors. We were robbed 4 times until the alarm went in and a neighbour twice. Not been done since (4 years ago) and I'm much happier knowing that it is safe.
Friends have a 'managed' alarm where the security van turns up 4 hours after the alarm has gone off and pays $30 a month for the priviledge!

Four hours after the alarm has gone off, now thats a system worth having and only 30€ a month.!! :-?

PlanesPete,
It is nice to have a super dupper alarm,but have you thought about what you will be able to do when it goes off and you are near by ?(unless you live very near to the cop shop and they are not havine a siesta)
We had an incident last summer when 3 or 4 itinerant workers decided to walk across our place looking for the neighbouring farmer, who owed them money.They were not in very sociable moods and I dont think the iron bars they were carrying were for swatting flies !
Police never attended that day and probably never did.

hi all,
i have a place near ginestar and somebody nicked my septic tank earlier this year,and it was in the ground,how do you put an alarm on that,nothing is safe,somebody in the area must know where it ended up,a nice new tank that was never used, >:(

wrote on Nov 13^th, 2012 at 5:29pm:

Unfortunately most of these alarms work off motion sensors, so they are no use to those of us who have cats and dogs in the house. Otherwise it gets more complicated and expensive. They can be useful to those people who are away a lot though. Does anyone know the statistics on people being broken into and whether they are holiday homes, or permanent?

We have some friends who have a holiday home in the campo near Mas de Barberans.  Just had a text to say they have been broken into for the fifth time in three years.  This time it is the  generator batteries stolen that were locked up like Frot Knox.  They have also been broken into via the roof and have had windows pulled out by the frames.  It has cost them thousands and thousands of Euros in damage and the feeling of violation is just awful, they are desperate to sell but who is buying these days?

In my experience if you live in the campo and leave your property unattended for any length of time you will be robbed with 100% certainty.  We have had dog bowls and wind chimes oh and a plastic rain gauge stolen from outside our almacen.  Absolutely nothing is safe and knowing what I know now I wouldn't live in the campo if you paid me.

When I was over the other week, there was alarm going off "the night of the storm" in the campo nearly all night long who would have come out that night ? It is really sad to here this sort of thing happening again ,in nearly  ten years I have owned my little bit of Spain, I have never had any trouble in the campo and I am very close to you Pondgirl :) but having a old farmer and his dogs just below must be  a great deterrent, as his dogs are out the minute anybody is about day and night, he,s 84 now and I can only hope he doesn't retire to his other house in the town, but stays on as the best burglar alarm money can buy.
If there getting in through the roof !!!there is nothing safe just make,s you wonder ? i am of the main track so unless you know, you would not know guess  there was other buildings about, are they very remote ?

hi all,
it must be easy for these muppets to carry out their work,nobody about,plenty of time to size up the place,then just help themselves when they feel like it ,nobody to stop them,
ive had plenty of damage done to mine,broken windows,cellar door jemmied open,septic tank gone,im surprised they havent stripped it down yet to get the roof and blocks,
i feel like giving up also,and leaving it to nature,i wouldnt feel safe leaving it for weeks on end and arriving for a relaxing holiday and finding nothing there,
its time the scumbags were stopped !
catch them and bury them where theyll never be found. >:(
or better still feed them to the catfish, they dont mind eating s**t .

Not remote in that they are on a minor road but there are no other houses around within hearing distance so the robbers can just take their time.  The damage caused by the burglars is horrendous beause they smash into the property, last time most of the bathroom was damaged when they came in through the roof and they have had every piece of copper pipe ripped out.  A local friend of ours had his almacen robbed when he was working on his finca.  He never heard anything because he was on his tractor.  We always keep ours locked if we cannot see it from where we are working and I photograph any car paked near us. 

We genuinely feel that Cat Aigua did us a favour when they eventually refused us planning permission for rebuilding the moli.  I cannot imagine how we would ever have got anything built without sleeping onsite permanently to stop thieving.  We've now built a house in the village and I have none of the worries I would have done if we were living in the campo.

I know this is a bit risky saying but every morning there is a gang of African workers at the roundabout at top of Ravel de Christ by the turn off to Mas de Barberians,  they look very dodgy to me, and you know that are going to be hard up and desperate for cash.

Could be anyone couldn't it?  When we were robbed a couple of years ago the police caught the thieves (I think we may be unique in that) and they were Catalans.  25% unemployment and very little help in the way of benefits, I can't see the situation improving any time soon. 

This is very sad for the people involved and I really feel for anyone it happens too.  Having said that after 8 years out here I know more people who haven't been burgled than who have. Empty houses anywhere attract lowlifes. I suspect location and access is also an issue for some properties.
Bruixot

I dare say a combination of (smart) alarms, cameras, dogs etc. all make for a good deterrent but the addition of a gun toting neighbour with a 'shoot first ask questions later' attitude as we have probably does no harm.

Michael wrote on Dec 4^th, 2012 at 9:02pm:

I dare say a combination of (smart) alarms, cameras, dogs etc. all make for a good deterrent but the addition of a gun toting neighbour with a 'shoot first ask questions later' attitude as we have probably does no harm.

None of these things help if you have a holiday home here and live in another country most of the time.

hi all,
i have spoken to couples there who cant even go back to the uk together,one of them has to stay there to guard their place,what a terrible situation,
even going out for the day together is out of the question,
how long is it going to be before this situation changes,its rediculous,and im pretty sure the local polis couldnt care less,but i bet if you had a dodgy tyre on your car they would soon pay attention,i
f you live in the campo you have no rights,to the spanish you are just a gypsy and of no consequence to them!

Pondgirl, a smart alarm does work, but only if you co-operate with neighbours who will respond when it goes off. I respond to several neighbours holiday homes. On my advice they have sensors outside the property to catch anyone sniffing about. I get a call about once a month but by the time I get there (2-5 mins) the siren, or me approaching has scared them off.

Gyronut, if you get to know your Spanish neighbours, even if they just come out to tend the land, and get to know the Policia Local then your treatment and opinion will change. The Spanish are certainly no worse than the English in the UK when a 'foreign' family moves into their street. If the newcomers try hard to integrate then they are accepted.

hi, where i have my house there are no spanish neighbours,my neighbours are british,and i get on great with them,but ill tell you a wee story about my other piece of land and my lovely spanish neighbours who have forced me to spend a load of euros to have a survey carried out to claim back a large chunk of my land that they said was theirs,6000 square metres worth,
one cultivated 2000 square metres worth just after i bought the land 6 yrs ago then planted half a dozen trees on it then never touched it again,
it cost me a lot of hassle to try and sort that problem out,he even threw the boundary markers that i had put out away at least 3 times,
no wonder im angry ,i have had 6 yrs of it ,dodgy estate agents ,annoying neighbours ,crooked mayors ,extortionate incompetent lawyers and theivin bams that would have the sugar out your tea,,ive had it all,my missus cant stand the sight of the place anymore,
im glad my local british neighbours have been decent otherwise i would have given up on the place myself,
its certainly not how i imagined my place in the sun was going to be , >:(
i guess i have either been really stupid or helluva unlucky
it all started to go wrong when i met a certain black estate agent ,(no names but you know who i mean)

Gyronut,you are not alone with your story regarding neighbours claiming rights to land (in this region) that did not belong to them.I have heard this story time & again,i am sorry to say.   :(

PlanesPete wrote on Dec 5^th, 2012 at 5:01pm:

Pondgirl, a smart alarm does work, but only if you co-operate with neighbours who will respond when it goes off. I respond to several neighbours holiday homes. On my advice they have sensors outside the property to catch anyone sniffing about. I get a call about once a month but by the time I get there (2-5 mins) the siren, or me approaching has scared them off. Gyronut, if you get to know your Spanish neighbours, even if they just come out to tend the land, and get to know the Policia Local then your treatment and opinion will change. The Spanish are certainly no worse than the English in the UK when a 'foreign' family moves into their street. If the newcomers try hard to integrate then they are accepted.

The problem for our friends is that it is a holiday home in the campo with no near neighbours.  Even if were were able to respond to an alarm immediately from our home it would be at least 10 minutes before we could get there.  Do smart alarms run off of batteries because their electrical supply is from a generator.  At least it would be if it hadn't been stolen.

All "proper" alarm systems run off batteries as thieves often cut power and phone lines

You can use a UPS battery for a computer to power your own solution easily enough.

Thieves here usually try to pry open a window, set off the alarm without causing obvious damage, then lie in wait nearby to see who turns up.

The new trick is to rob you, then stash the loot somewhere nearby, so they are not caught red handed unloading stolen goods at home. The women come by a day or two later and innocently "find" your stuff in the barranque .... So, if you get robbed, have a good look around, put yourself in the  thief's shoes.

the problem is all the locks and alarms and every thing else that you do to make your property safe will only deter honest people if some one is determined to rob you they will, we used to have a shop in liverpool i had all the top tec alarms linked to a police station 1 mile away we still got robbed 4 times in 10 years the police never turned up once when the alarm went off, we had the till robbed in broad daylight 8 bobbies where on the scene with in minutes even when they where told by a witness which way the culprits had run and who they where they managed to run the in the wrong direction and although the name was given to them they still failed to apprehend him, the culprit died with in 12 months sometimes things go your way

Hi Penny,
Was just looking through posts over the last couple of weeks, and sorry to hear about your friends place being burgled again.
What upset me more than anything was your own comments about not living on the campo if somebody paid you.
I remember when you first joined the forum, when you were posting about your experiences of buying you own property, it was always so full of enthusiam and positive energy.
Did you finish renovating your mill in the end? I do hope so.
Jools

Hi jools, no it never happened.  Although we bought the property with planning permission already in place and although we spent thousands on newer and better (more sympathetic) architect's plans, Cat Aigua decided that they would retrospectively refuse permission as the property could be subject to flooding.  It's an old water mill we were prepared for that, but they wouldn't budge.

We have, just last Friday, 5 years and 11 months later,moved into our new house that we have had built from scratch in Mas de Barberans and we love it, we have fabulous views out across to the Ebro Delta and the village is a really lovely place to live.

Thanks for asking

Sorry about your old mill, but congratulations on your new property, have a glass of wine for me.

I think sometimes things happen for a reason though, and it can be an enormous learning curve here.

I originally bought a finca in Catalunya, with plans to import a red cedar wood house from Canada, and was told by the Spanish estate agent that I could connect to water 'next door' and electricity 'just over there', how green behing the gills I was.............BUT............without that happening, I wouldn't be doing what I do now or living in a town, which I have to admit is better for us, I think I was having a mid life crisis when thinking of living in the middle of nowhere.

He is now out of business, as are most of the 'cowboys' further inland, so what goes around as I say!

So pleased that you have finally found what your happy with.
Good luck