Costa del Crime

[samizdat]

[/quote]what happened to Mr Spinks - the ONLY person on the board with one identity and proud to show it



...errrrr... and there's me ....[quote]

dear Gisela, if you remember he had a photo of himself sat at his computer

[asiwalkedout]

I wonder if things are really as bad as sensational tv makes out - they have to sell advertising space after all! on the one hand this sort of behaviour has always gone on amongst a certain element of people of what ever nationality. Andalucia over the past 30-40 years has prospered through tourism and yes a certain attraction for 'cheap' tourism and cheap booze. It seems that you can't have it both ways, I don't think many andalucians would like to go back to the days of dire poverty that was their lot post civil war. Brits have brought good and bad to the costa but in the main good I think. It seems wrong to focus on such a small element of people as an example of what is 'really' going on.

[frank]

Brits have brought good and bad to the costa but in the main good I think. It seems wrong to focus on such a small element of people as an example of what is 'really' going on.

You're right, those Spanish lot are a very ungrateful lot, they should be eternally grateful to have so many educated, well behaved Brits living amongst them, improving their life style, bringing them out of the dark ages! And of course TV exagerates the situation, we all know these things never go on, they probably bussed actors in to star as drunken Brits, it's probably all set up. I remember reading a local paper when we were there in October where the Police Chief from Estepona was complaining that he did not have a large enough force to handle the crime in that area. He was probably exegerating the situation as well.,

[daneinspain]

The thing is, there are many nationalities of foreigners in andalucia none of which seem to cause as much trouble as the brits - ofcourse there are probably more brits than other nationalities down here. Having said that, brits seem to make more trouble than all the other nationalities put together. And as for bringing something to andalucia, i think we can agree that arabs, russians and many other nationalities have brought far more than the english, Marbella Club and Puente Romano (institutes of the area) were not created by brits, and as for money of the richest people I know only 2 are english - so, proportionally there is a larger ratio of wealthy russians, arabs, italians, scandinavians than there are british.

So lets not get too much on ones high horse expecting absolute gratefullness because really, the english havent really done the most. I do realise that saying this to a largely english forum I am shooting myself in the foot but it is the truth.

[jane grant]

There was an item on the local spanish news yesterday about the 'overcrowding' of the gaol at Alurin - it is apparently at 160% capacity. They also stated that there were 45 different foreign nationalities being held in the goal at the moment, the two nationalities most represented were the Senegalese and Colombians! Maybe the Brits aren't that bad!!!

[Valencia_Paul]

I think there is a tendency here to mix yobbish nuisance behaviour with hardened career criminal activities. The Brits are certainly guilty of the former, but the jails are probably full of thieves, drug dealers, car-jackers etc. and many of these will be from Africa, Eastern Europe, South America and other foreign countries.

From my own perspective, I don't like CDS precisely because there are too many Brits. My property is in the Valencia region north of the Costa Blanca and is still refreshingly Spanish. My local beach resort is Playa de Gandia and there is certainly no sign (yet!) of English Breakfasts on sale - not even a McDonalds although a Burger King has recently opened.

There are certainly no hordes of drunken Brits or any other nationality for that matter. I honestly don't see the attraction of CDS apart from the natural beauty of the land in places. I have yet to find a beach in CDS (apart from Costa De La Luz) that doesn't have the consistancy of grit or cement dust!

I read about people here settling in towns like Baza, why anybody would want to settle in a place like Baza is beyond me.

[Bongtrees]

My property is in the Valencia region north of the Costa Blanca and is still refreshingly Spanish. My local beach resort is Playa de Gandia and there is certainly no sign (yet!) of English Breakfasts on sale - not even a McDonalds although a Burger King has recently opened.


There are certainly no hordes of drunken Brits or any other nationality for that matter.

Sorry to crack your rose tinted specs but................

There is a MacDonalds in Gandia and has been for at least the last 4 years. There are plenty of places with English breakfast for sale and there are hordes of pixx poor, pixxed up Brits in that area.

Next time you are over pick up any one of the several freebie papers in English with adverts the breakfast establishments and bars where loutish behaviour can be witnessed at any time of the day.

Mike

[silver]

frank

You're right, those Spanish lot are a very ungrateful lot, they should be eternally grateful to have so many educated, well behaved Brits living amongst them, improving their life style, bringing them out of the dark ages!

Having lived here during "the dark ages" when one years wage would buy a flat, when "serenos" did their night watch, when no home had a tin opener.... (when for example..Coin had 11 banks (for a 10.000 population) before a single foreigner set foot)... I can not agree with this statement....things have changed, but not all for the better.. the Brits can claim to have changed the way of life, but to call these changes an "improvement" is going a bit too far...

daneinspain

Brits seem to make more trouble than all the other nationalities put together

According to a recent report Brits are only responsible (mainly holiday makers) for 35%...
I also

agree that arabs, russians and many other nationalities have brought far more than the english

They don't whinge either.

[Valencia_Paul]

Mike,

I was talking about Playa de Gandia, not Gandia itself.

I know lots of Brits are moving to this general area including Oliva, Pego etc. maybe thanks to Amanda Lamb and "place in the sun".

But what are you saying, that this area is as bad as the worst in CDS? I still don't think so.

[frank]

From my own perspective, I don't like CDS precisely because there are too many Brits.

I'm with you on that one! I steer clear of anywhere down that strip, Fuengirola, Torremolinos, Benamádena etc


My property is in the Valencia region north of the Costa Blanca and is still refreshingly Spanish. My local beach resort is Playa de Gandia and there is certainly no sign (yet!) of English Breakfasts on sale - not even a McDonalds although a Burger King has recently opened.

Where you are ,is certainly more Spanish, although Gandia didn't do anything for me. I quite enjoyed a week in Valencia itself..Further south, we used to visit Jávea, but that is now absolutely full of Brits and Germans. And as for Torrevieja, I vowed never to go back there


I read about people here settling in towns like Baza, why anybody would want to settle in a place like Baza is beyond me

Nor me! In my earlier post, it was written very much tongue in cheek, it looks like some have taken it seriously!
.

[silver]

I'm with you on that one! I steer clear of anywhere down that strip, Fuengirola, Torremolinos, Benamádena etc

frank..is that due to

so many educated, well behaved Brits living amongst them, improving their life style

[Bongtrees]

Mike,

I was talking about Playa de Gandia, not Gandia itself.

I know lots of Brits are moving to this general area including Oliva, Pego etc. maybe thanks to Amanda Lamb and "place in the sun".

But what are you saying, that this area is as bad as the worst in CDS? I still don't think so.

I have no idea what is the worst in the CDS so cannot comment.

However, even a handful of Brits, swearing, fighting mooning pixxing in the street etc are unwanted anywhere be it CDS or Gandia.

We have seen at least 2 reports of drunken behaviour and fighting by Brits on local Spanish TV plus a report of a woman who had her kids taken into care plus the local Spanish radio phone in shows often have many Spaniards calling critical of the Brits using the health service etc and contributing nothing to the system, dumping their grannies etc.

It is a fact that a lot of undesirable Brits go to the areas where there is cheap property and it is not a recent thing, they have been moving to the Gandia/Oliva area for several years, both in and around the town and inland from both places because properties were so cheap.

Mike

[frank]

[quote="Valencia_Paul plus the local Spanish radio phone in shows often have many Spaniards calling critical of the Brits using the health service etc and contributing nothing to the system, dumping their grannies etc.

Mike

Whilst I certainly don't condone it, all Brits are used to every man and his dog coming into the UK and using the Health Service, and every other service, without ever having put a single penny in the pot, so perhaps they think this is the way it works in Spain as well.

[silver]

Valencia_Paul

I don't like CDS precisely because there are too many Brits
What ? more than Cheshire or Wales?

[katy]

well someones certainly opened a can of works here! what have the Brits brought to Spain...Car boot sales, sing along in Pubs? Positive side too, lots of fundraising groups, Lions club, Cudeca was started by a Brit. They contribute to other charities too (spanish ones).

The Middle eastern guys keep the casinos running and they have built a grand mosque on the golden mile. Course you wont see them running around drunk, they have bodyguards to get them out of trouble. The filopinos have brought us their cleaning skills and the Eastern europeans their prostitutes to work in the malaga brothels.

I honestly never see anything like this programme but when I see some of the advertisments for bars in rags like the town crier, I don't think even these were imported by the Brits they are a spanglish culture.