Spanish police have issued a warning to Brits visiting Benidorm this summer after footage emerged of tourists being targeted on ‘muggers alley’.
The clips shared online showed a group of women stopping men while walking down an alleyway off Calle Gerona, near the Magic Villa hotel – and incredibly, just metres from a police station dedicated to helping tourists.
A Brit who has lived in Benidorm for decades told the Spanish Eye: ‘This has been going on for a long time, it’s outside the Magic Villa de Benidorm and right next to the local tourist police station, which is closed in the evening.’
In the footage, one woman is seen walking out into the alleyway and right in front of a man with her arms out in a bid to stop him in his tracks.
Three women then grab him by his shirt as he tries to walk away. A young British couple were filming the incident from their hotel balcony.
They said they spent several nights throwing water down on the alleged criminals while shouting warnings to tourists walking by.
The Policia Nacional told the Spanish Eye it has received multiple reports from victims and has ‘intervened and arrested the perpetrators several times.’
It added: ‘As a preventative measure, continuous patrols are carried out in this area, as well as throughout the rest of the town, to prevent the commission of this crime.’
It then listed several key bits of advice for tourists coming to Benidorm.
The force said: ‘Always keep an eye on your personal belongings, especially in crowded areas.
‘Do NOT keep cell phones or wallets in back pockets or easily accessible areas.
‘Be wary of strangers who approach you with vague excuses or exaggerated gestures.
‘In the event of a robbery, do not confront the offender directly and notify the police immediately.
‘Write down the IMEI (serial) number of your device to facilitate its recovery in case of theft.’
The British couple who filmed the alleged pickpockets last week said there or five or six who ‘come out every night at around 9pm’.
They said: ‘Be very careful… me and my partner have tried to tell a few people going past and thankfully we have succeeded…
‘They are going for vulnerable old men and also drunk or sober men of any age who are alone…
‘Last night I noticed they also went for a few men that were in (groups of) twos or threes and would try to separate them.
‘We witnessed them try to shake a man’s wedding ring and watch off his hand a few days ago… thankfully a group of lovely young men prevented that from happening by walking with him and shouting something which made them stop!’
The Brit warned anyone who finds themselves walking alone at night to ‘keep your hands in your pockets and protect your belongings’, advising any prospective tourists to ‘do their research’.
She added: ‘It’s so awful to see them take advantage of men and touch them without their consent! They keep getting away with it as they constantly change clothes, we’ve been watching every night since we’ve arrived and we’ve noticed they’ll all take it in turns to change clothes and when they go to mug someone usually it’ll be one or two girls and they’ll try to stroke your arm or flirt with you (sometimes will pull their boobs out).
‘Then they’ll have all the other girls a bit further behind so you have more of a slim chance to escape, but I’ve seen a few men run straight past as they knew what they were trying to do!’
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