Police And Thieves

One of the myths about Mallorca is that it is a paradise of perfectly behaved humanity who would no more covet a neighbour’s oxen (and rustle them) than they would lift the neighbour’s handbag or wallet and break into his house. It is bullshit of course, though all things are relative. The Balearics have the highest crime rate in Spain. I was told today that the Guardia are anticipating a busy summer. The influx of visitors each year brings with it increased criminality by comparison with winter, and each year a call goes out for increased policing to combat it.

Much crime is low level – break-ins, car theft and the like – but to try and paint a picture, as some do, of a wholly virtuous society in which people leave their backdoors open and go out for the day would be quite wrong. By the same token, one stresses that all things are relative, and it is not exactly as if the island is sliding into a morass of criminality.

Perhaps the greatest problem the island suffers is drugs. Where isn’t it, one might well ask. The concentrated police activity in the Son Banya shanty in Palma, which has gained a certain notoriety for drugs, is mirrored – if less dramatically – by the road blocks and searches that have occurred around Calvia over the past few weeks. For a period this winter, barely a week seemed to pass without a launch of contraband being intercepted or found on a beach. A while ago, there was a raid on a villa in Alcúdia as part of an operation against drugs.

To a large extent, the problems of crime are centred around or near Palma. The city now has to contend with a gang culture, a latino gang culture. This is no West Side Story. In the north, the tensions are far lower, though here, such as in my urbanisation, the police and Guardia do a tour five times a day. There is no such thing as neighbourhood watch, but the chap who keeps the roads and pavements clean and clears the weeds is one of the best eyes and ears we have. He was one of the first to whom I spoke after a break-in.

Yesterday there was a ram-raid incident. Bar Mosquito by the horse roundabout in Puerto Alcúdia. Bang, straight through and off with the slot machines. Shit happens, I guess, and it happens anywhere. Not so long back in Puerto Pollensa, I was in one British bar. A policeman in the bar was called out. There had been a robbery at another (British) bar.

When people ask about crime here as a part of their information-gathering before a holiday, the response tends to be to warn them about things like the carnation sellers who cause a distraction while a purse is lifted. I’m not so sure this is so much of a problem now. But the advice all too easily represents an idyll of total safety. It is safe, but let’s not fool ourselves that Mallorca doesn’t have a crime problem because it does.


QUIZ
Yesterday – The missing word was “love” and it was Rose Royce. Today’s title – who wrote it?

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