Topic About Crime And Punishment

Spain is considered to be a relatively safe place to visit and live but it is certainly not free of crime. There is always a threat of terrorist activity as the Basque separatist group known as ETAwas very active until recently. The main terrorist threat is from Islamic extremists although there have been no attacks since 2004. However, the security services in the country remain on high alert.Street crime is probably one of the biggest dangers although there are very few instances of armed street robbery. Simply taking standard precautions such as not wandering into badly-lit areas andremaining with friends where you can should help to keep the threat of robbery at bay. Pickpockets and muggers can be active in areas where there are tourists. Muggings in Spain are often organized bygangs now and those who take part are not afraid to mug in public places. Bag snatching carried out by a passenger on a motorbike is common and some criminals have mastered carrying out this crimefrom a car.

Thieves are also more likely to take your valuables from your car than they are to steal the car itself. Foreign cars and rental cars are prime targets, so it is a good idea to have aSpanish registered car as soon as you can. It is common practice for Spanish drivers to carry all valuables with them, even a car radio, when they are not in their car.
One scam that foreigners inSpain should be aware of is the lottery scam whereby people are conned into buying worthless tickets and the scammer tries to then convince them that they have won a prize. There are also still a numberof timeshare sale scams in operation.
The rate of crime is considerably lower than in many other countries. Statistics are available from 2006, which show that the Spain had under 50 crimes per 1000inhabitants, a low figure when compared with the 80 per 1000 that was in the UK. It is generally considered that the vast majority of Spanish people have a great deal of respect for laws, even...