We used to go every year 35 men on a outing for the fiesta,
One year we stopped for the 3rd time in the Riudor,great hotel,
was the best draught beer at one time in Benidorm.
The hotel foyer is not on the road,so people took their cases,
down the incline from hotel reception,& put them against a
wall on the road.
Me & mate in bar, a woman come to us & said there is a car
driving round & stealing the cases.
Me & mate went outside,told the woman to tell reception to phone
police,we went on front of hotel,next to road.
After so long the robbers car come round,at the same time I took
notice a unmarked police car came along,we pointed to robbers car,
the police stopped them & arrested them.

Hi all. I have just returned from two weeks in Benidorm. I am posting this to warn everyone about the Romanian woman muggers. Every night between 12am and 5am in the morning they sit outside KFC opposite Rockeys bar in Ave Gerona in the busy area. They wait for English tourists to walk by after a few drinks and a group of six Romanian scruffy woman jump on English men and grab them saying "please please sex" they distract the man and take gold chains from around there neck etc. During our stay this happened to us, the next night the same group in the same spot tried to do it again to another one of our friends. We managed to take photos of them and the group ran away. We reported this to the police. The police seemed to be aware of the group but due to so many English tourists not wanting the hassle and not reporting it they have not managed to arrest the Romanians. The following night we saw them again and they ran off in the same street. Four other English men that saw them run said they had had the same happen to them, one mans chain was 7000k but he didn't report it. We gave the police a statement and picked the woman out on some mug shots the police had of them. The group of woman are aged about 20 but are led by an older lady 50-60. They have scruffy dark hair, are overweight and are believed to live in tents by the Benidorm market. They all wear flip flops and baggy short trousers like gypsies. I am warning you all because I cannot believe they keep getting away with it because no one is reporting it. We had the courage to follow it through we have picked the woman out on photos and the police were going to finally arrest them. Please if it happens to you report it and pick them out before they continue to ruin anyone else's holiday. We believe they may have two men working with them that lean against cars in the street watching out for them. Be warned and take care.

A group of us went in April, on the first night 3 of us were approached by some romanian type women, just past the rosaire, heading towards marianos. We'd had a few drinks and they had their hands all over us, "sex pleeeese" and all that rubbish. The trouble was though that one of my friends was carrying all his money on him, he was pickpocketed and didn't know about it until the following day.

she was a very good pickpocket, because she'd slipped her fingers into his wallet and removed the contents without him knowing. none of us saw a thing because we were too busy fending their hands off our private parts. he lost about £150, but we decided that we were not going to waste a full day of a much anticipated break, in the police office reporting it, so we never reported it at all, which must happen a lot.

another group of freinds just got back last week, and sadly the problem is still there, one of the guys was walking home at about midnight with his six year old son, and they still had their hands all over him, pestering him for sex. the theiving scum know no boundaries.

the police seem a bit lacklustre, but I suppose if not enough people report things then why should they care. it could give benidorm a really bad reputation, which is sad.

One hell of a chain to be worth K7!

One hell of a distraction as well to be able to roba chain from round your neck as well. Watch me get mugged now: talk about karma.

They wait for English tourists to walk by after a few drinks

Can I just say that it's not just British tourists they target, they have robbed a Spanish friend (of my friend in Benidorm) who posted on his facebook page yesterday, they took his mobile and his wallet with his money & CC's and he was off to the police to make a denuncia.
I can't put what he called them, except to say they were quite explicit derogatory Spanish phrases.
He was pickpocketed, mugging is when there is violence or assault with intent to rob.

Sanji

I'm not sure what this says about me, but I'd quite like to learn some explicit and derogatory Spanish phrases!

Am glad i read this will be keeping an eye out when i go but it happens in England just the same. Wherever you are you have to keep your wits about you. If they try and touch my hubbys bits they will get a smack in the mouth joking aside thanks for the info

This topic comes up every year. People who go out with wallets full of cash and credit cards, wearing gold chains, with an i-phone in their pocket are frankly asking for what they get. This is Spain, not the UK. The police in Benidorm are about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. Victims who have tried to report a crime say the experience can be worse than the crime was!
When you go out in the evening only take out as much cash as you need, then if you do get robbed (which is really, really unlikely) it's not going to ruin your holiday. If it looks like you are aware of the problem and are likely to have taken precautions they will probably pick on someone else. One very obvious thing you can do is wear trainers instead of flip-flops, if it looks like you can outrun them, catch them and kick the you know what out of them they aren't going to touch you!

I was going to post in this thread earlier in the week in defence of the Policia and the Spanish law regarding pickpockets, peamen and prostitution, but I decided against it because I could predict the outcome and who it would attract into the thread.

This morning I'm absolutely sick to my stomach with those who wear rose tinted glasses and who will not accept that Benidorm has changed.
A young man posted a few days ago in another forum about his 83 year old grandmother being viciously attacked and left for dead in broad daylight after getting disorientation and asking for directions.
He was met with the usual 'where did this happen', 'Nothing in the papers so it can't be true', 'I live in Benidorm so I'd have heard something' and the usual reply ' it happens every where in the world.'
Those people should feel thoroughly ashamed of themselves this morning....Grrrrr

http://www.costa-news.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8230&Itemid=1

Yes pick pocketing & muggings do happen everywhere in the world, but not an every day occurrence (and it seems an acceptable occurrence) like it's becoming in Benidorm, and it's not the same in some other parts of Spain either.
As usual, those wearing rose tinted glasses who will not have anything wrong said about Benidorm have got the post removed and closed, just like they did with Luci's thread in the same forum.

Personally, whilst I have defended Benidorm in the past, on my last visit I felt like I needed another set of eyes in the back of my head and there was no joy left anymore having to be vigilant 24 hours every day.
I'm supposed to be on holiday and in comparison I walked around Sydney and whilst taking the usual precautions as you would in any city, I didn't feel threatened or this uneasiness that I felt in Benidorm"¦.and neither do I feel this uneasiness where I go in another part of Spain.

Sanji

Thanks Sanji for saying what I was thinking regarding the changes in Benidorm. Of course it's not all bad, but in my opinion, these romanian prostitutes/pickpockets are pure evil and have amplified the bad side of Benidorm 100 times. It was nothing like it is now 10 years ago. If it was like this 15 or so years ago when I first visited Benidorm, I never would have returned. I don't look at things through rose coloured specs and am coming to Benidorm again for a short break next month. There is not a chance I will get robbed, but there is a very good chance I will get in some sort of altercation with these slappers when they approach me.

Please can you say why the police seem so powerless?

I really hope that the tourist authorities in Benidorm start to take note of these threads.

literally just got back from benidorm,went all over the place day and night from poniente,old town,new town,rincon etc and didn't even see one single prostitute,no trouble whatsoever,no 'shifty' looking people apart from some disgraceful looking Brits and the place is heaving,with old bill in constant sight but in a subtle way,all this about how benidorm is more dangerous now,changed for the worst etc is in my opinion an absolute load of bollocks,many things have changed sure,but the above doesnt seem in any way to be amongst those changes.

i'm the first to be cynical about such matters and so is my GF and she commented on how clean and freindly the whole place is,not one person we spoke to had experienced anything like the above,people seem to forget that beni is more like a city than a resort and as such crime will happen but to scaremonger based on a very small number of anecdotal incidents does the place no justice at all,and as for powerless police,that's the biggest load of crap i've ever read on here,they're spot on,they appear well trained,well disciplined,very polite and fair,yet firm and well on the ball.

no offence meant by my outspoken tone but internet speculation will never compare to the truth,benidorm is amazing,it has its down sides,and i will be reviewing it in the right section and mentioning these in my opinion,but they are FAR outweighed by all the plusses.

as for powerless police,that's the biggest load of "swear" i've ever read on here,they're spot on,they appear well trained,well disciplined,very polite and fair,yet firm and well on the ball.

The police have their hands tied due to insufficient legislation to be able to permanently remove these undesirables off the streets, and therefore when those who are caught committing crimes appear on the streets a few hours/days later, it gives the impression that the police are inadequate.
TBH, you can't blame people for thinking the policia are " as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike" when those of us who have been visiting Benidorm every year for 15 years or more, we see the same faces on the streets in activities such as the peamen.

IMO it's going to get worse with the police numbers in Benidorm about to be cut in line with the national austerity measures, and the policia and other security services are already warning the Mayor about this"¦.petty crime such as pickpocketing (without any violence) must come low down on their list when they are dealing with such things as money laundering, drug offences, mafiosa activities and human trafficking.

However, Benidorm is important to Spain, it contributes over 5% of Spain's GDP and as such it has quite a bit of political clout, therefore you'd have thought it's in their own interest as one of the most popular tourist destinations that they would at least find other ways to make cuts instead of reducing the police numbers.?
http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/costa-blanca-north/benidorm-police-numbers-reduced-in-budget-cuts.html

So, having said that, why are the pickpockets, peamen and prostitutes still on the streets.? To understand a little, IMO it is necessary to read the Spanish Police forums and to study the Spanish Penal Code.
Sanji

well like i said,didnt see any prostitutes at all,no pea/potato men,no looky looky men,no africans and only 1 street urchin begging with a cup and placard,not even a timeshare tout,but there was old bill everywhere,all the time,both local and guardia,in cars,on scooters,foot patrols and even saw 2 on segways

what we did see was tens of thousands of people enjoying themselves trouble free.

you say how the same people are at it year after year,how is that any different to anywhere,have you been to luton for example??

sorry but i've now been to beni 4 times in 10 years and never seen any trouble whatsover,amazing place

No sign of prostitutes.
The brothel used to be between the Riudor Hotel & John & Josephs where you walked
down the pavement to the road below.
One year we were walking by, with one of our married sons,& he started waving at
someone.I said who are you waving to,he said that woman in that bar waved to me.
I cracked out laughing telling him what the premises was. .
Ps No I have never used the premises.

it's the oldest trade in the world and is everywhere,but if it's in a knocking shop and away from the pavement where the nice people and their kids are then it's not really a drama,unless they're all absolute stunners of course.......


one thing we did notice was when we went to denia on the train,from altea onwards there's loads of advertising in russian,especially around calpe,i pray to god they don't get as far as benidorm in significant numbers,without trying to sound bigoted,the russians make foul,rude,miserable,overbearing tourists and in my opinion would ruin benidorm,and bring a mentionable amount of organised criminal activity with them.

Sam, I'm glad that you have had a trouble free time in Benidorm, but because you didn't see, for example, any peamen, does not mean that this week they will be out doing their sc*ms.
I've been to Beni and not seen the peamen, but 6 weeks later when I've returned, they have been all over the place.
You haven't been to Benidorm since 2005 and those of us who have been going every year, some of us can see the changes...and yes I'm going to say since Romania joined the EU in 2007.

There is nobody who has defended Benidorm more than me, I love the place, my best Spanish friend lives there ( well Polop now to be truthful) and I've written articles defending Benidorm against those who write derogatory articles without knowing absolutely nothing about its history and why skyscrapers were built....but I'm not going to lie and say I felt comfortable the last time I was in Benidorm because I didn't, and I think I'm pretty street wise.
It's a place where they need to focus on the increase of undesirables walking the streets these days and the Spanish (I know) are saying the same thing....or as one Spaniard said to me recently" "If the British stop coming to Spain, Spain is :swear."

Can't comment on Luton, never been there and I was explaining why those who are regular visitors to Beni and see the same faces, would come to the opinion that the policia are 'useless' and your comment of
Quote :and as for powerless police,that's the biggest load of "swear" i've ever read on here.
The police ARE powerless and just as exasperated when the legislation doesn't punish these people enough.

Sanji

not been since 2005? i only got back from beni 48 hours ago!

i honestly,sincerely think that any problems seen in somewhere like benidorm are miniscule in comparison to a town of similar size elsewhere and you'd be extremely unlucky,or perhaps stupid,to suffer any problems yourself while on holiday,there's scammers everywhere,try living in a town full of albanians and west africans(i refer to my home on a greek island,not luton),there's countless problems where i live but it's rare that it causes anyone any real drama on holiday

not been since 2005? i only got back from beni 48 hours ago!

Yeah, and prior to that.? 6 years ago.