# torrevieja horrorvieja!!



## sarah&darren (Nov 12, 2013)

Hi everyone

I am new to the forum and just looking for some advice please

I have recently moved to torrevieja, been here 5 weeks! and tbh me and my partner hate it!!! Its full of OAP's and not very much to do that we are interested in

so.... we want to move! With my work luckily I can live anywhere as I work from home, Id preferably like somewhere with some people our age im 29 my partner 35, some kind of nightlife, beaches, I have been looking at Malaga? does anyone live there who can give us some advice 

thanks sarah


----------



## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Torrevieja is a MINI Benidorm. Both equally horrid.

No need to go so far from there to find what you want. Malaga is good I suppose but you could also try north of Alicante, or anywhere from Valencia and south. Granada is good too!


----------



## sarah&darren (Nov 12, 2013)

I know its awful! we was going to move to javea but changed our mind last min... what a big mistake that was! Well we are looking to move in feb so have plenty of time think we will check out the place first before moving there ha


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

sarah&darren said:


> I know its awful! we was going to move to javea but *changed our mind last min.*.. what a big mistake that was! Well we are looking to move in feb so have plenty of time think we will check out the place first before moving there ha


why on earth would you do that ??


----------



## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

I think you should visit places around your area, maybe all the way up to Valencia city, Javea is very beautiful, as is Altea (vilages), and have a look around, if it is not for you, then you could try Malaga but the things you mention can be found easily anywhere as long as you stay far away from mini-UK towns like Benidorm, Torrevieja, etc...


----------



## stevec2x (Mar 24, 2012)

sarah&darren said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I am new to the forum and just looking for some advice please
> 
> ...


Hiya - We live in Torrevieja as well

At your age you will be pretty much the youngest expats around! However we're 50 and do know a few younger people of British origin 

You don't say what you are 'interested in' - and 5 weeks is nowhere near enough to form a true opinion of anywhere in the world! What sort of nightlife are you looking for?

Which area of Torrevieja do you live in? They vary a lot! There are plenty of nice beaches north and south, but I agree that the beaches in Torrevieja itself are rubbish - mainly because of their proximity to the dual-carriageway and the port (with all the ships taking salt/grit back to Britain for the winter!)

Do you have a car?

btw - I'm writing this whilst in Torremolinos for a few days!

Cheers

Steve


----------



## juelz (Feb 4, 2014)

Which areas in torrevieja are a good place to live all year round ? I was looking for some where that wasn't a ghost town in winter. I'd like a settled community, where I'd have neighbours, not summer lager louts and not a high rise apartment. I'd like a small bungalow or duplex. I would be also bringing my 2 small dogs, is Torrevieja dog friendly. PS, I'm a 52 yrs old female, so I'd like a safe area. Near to facilities or on a good bus route.


----------



## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

I guess it depends on the sort of nightlife you are looking for and what you consider 'old' and OAP's being in my early 50's I consider myself 'young' 

Sounds like you might enjoy the Marbella, Costa Del Sol lifestyle..


----------



## juelz (Feb 4, 2014)

Goldeneye said:


> I guess it depends on the sort of nightlife you are looking for and what you consider 'old' and OAP's being in my early 50's I consider myself 'young'
> 
> Sounds like you might enjoy the Marbella, Costa Del Sol lifestyle..


Hi, Golden eye,
Thanks but I didn't mention anything about OAPs or nightlife. Wouldn't like Costa del Crime, I would like to live near the salt lakes as I have very bad asthma and have read this is the healthiest place in the world for asthmatics, according to the World Health Organisation. I was just wondering was Torre dog friendly, and which areas would be the safest area to live in with year round neighbours.


----------



## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

sarah&darren said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I am new to the forum and just looking for some advice please
> 
> ...





juelz said:


> Hi, Golden eye,
> Thanks but I didn't mention anything about OAPs or nightlife. Wouldn't like Costa del Crime, I would like to live near the salt lakes as I have very bad asthma and have read this is the healthiest place in the world for asthmatics, according to the World Health Organisation. I was just wondering was Torre dog friendly, and which areas would be the safest area to live in with year round neighbours.


H'mmm I was actually responding to sarah&darren the originator of this thread!! ! :confused2:
..
..


----------



## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

Fogey central in Tenerife, same in Florida or anywhere else hot. Retired people gravitate towards them.


----------



## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

???????


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

sarah&darren said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I am new to the forum and just looking for some advice please
> 
> ...


Oh Dear, someone else who didn't look before they jumped. Can you please tell me why you went to somewhere that had everything going against it? I'm not condemning you, just trying to understand.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Oh Dear, someone else who didn't look before they jumped. Can you please tell me why you went to somewhere that had everything going against it? I'm not condemning you, just trying to understand.


Sometimes you just can't tell before you've experienced a place. We are a good example of that.
I'd been visitig Prague and Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic for decades and had always wanted to live there. But visiting and living are entirely different experiences which is why people who enjoy a holiday then decide the 'must' move to Spain are not basing their decision on firm foundations.
We loved our first year but the day-to-day reality of living in a country with standards and expectations very different from what we were used to came as a shock. But as we ignored everyone's advice and rented instead of buying and tying ourselves with unwanted and hard to sell property we were able to move with the minimum of fuss.
Same with Canada, another country we'd considered as a place to live. We even bought property there. But after spending a considerable amount of time in all seasons we decided that too wasn't for us.
So it's easy for me to understand. As I've said before, we didn't intend to settle here in Spain. If we had pursued our original plans we would have been in France or Italy now. Sometimes it can take just one bad experience to make you dislike a place - that may seem and indeed may be irrational - but it's how people are.
As for being surrounded by 'fogeys' -an odd term - I agree, I wouldn't like to live in the land of tight perms and blue rinses. 
But neither would I like to live in a place full of drunks, stag and hen parties, whores and the hopeless and luckless of Europe. Hence our move.
I think that we've been fortunate to find somewhere 'normal'...with a good mix of all ages, types, tastes and habits. 
As for the 'Costa Del Crime'...no denying, the hills behind Marbella and Estepona too contain the opulent, vulgar homes of many Mafiosi of many nationalities. But the level of street crime, certainly in my area, is low compared to the tourist resorts up the coast. I don't buy drugs, frequent brothels or do shady deals so these folk don't bother me.
From what I have read in the press, there are more wanted criminals hiding out in places with a large British immigrant popuation like Alicante and Torrevieja where they can blend in more easily than in places where there are fewer Brits.
The CdS isn't just Torremolinos, Fuengirola and Marbella...


----------



## stevec2x (Mar 24, 2012)

juelz said:


> Which areas in torrevieja are a good place to live all year round ? I was looking for some where that wasn't a ghost town in winter. I'd like a settled community, where I'd have neighbours, not summer lager louts and not a high rise apartment. I'd like a small bungalow or duplex. I would be also bringing my 2 small dogs, is Torrevieja dog friendly. PS, I'm a 52 yrs old female, so I'd like a safe area. Near to facilities or on a good bus route.


Hi. Whilst we don't have a dog ourselves, we know many people who do and I'm not aware of any particular problems for dogowners. Our local beach-bar is awash with dogs in the afternoons!

Torrevieja buses are rather good in my opinion. Most of them run every 40 minutes or so and are reliable. Also, if you're on one of these local bus routes then you really can't be far from the lakes! And if you become resident, they are free!

In order to be on a bus-route you don't want to be any further south than Punta Prima, and I think the northern limit is La Mata.

re having neighbours all year-round - I'd say that broadly speaking, if you stay to the east (sea) side of the N332 dual-carriageway then it will not be deserted in winter. We got it wrong when we first moved out here - we picked a place just 4kms or so inland and it was dead outside of the summer.

Cheers

Steve


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Sometimes you just can't tell before you've experienced a place. We are a good example of that.


But just visiting, one can see that the majority of the people are older and the lifestyle is orientated around the older person. That is unless one only visits the bars and the beach. 

Whenever we visit a place, in addition to seeing the sights and looking at the cultural/tourist scene, we visit a couple of supermarkets - great places to see the people in their natural habitat (we've all seen the 'People of Walmart'- want to share your life surrounded by them?) see what goods are on offer (quality and freshness of fruit and veg {local or imported?}, the meat and fish) and the prices (a good way the gauge some of the costs of living there). We look in estate agents' windows, look at what is on offer in that area, how long has it been for sale at that price (faded ads are a dead give-away) which gives an idea of how well it is priced), etc. What is the place like for petty crime or unruly behaviour (broken street-lights, graffiti), general air of prosperity or run-down (shops closed down or closing down) all the sort of things that might decide you to either want, or not want, to live there. Another good give-away is dog-poo (if there's lots about, people let their dogs run free or if the dogs are on a lead the people don't care about fouling other areas so probably don't care about much else either)


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> But just visiting, one can see that the majority of the people are older and the lifestyle is orientated around the older person. That is unless one only visits the bars and the beach.
> 
> Whenever we visit a place, in addition to seeing the sights and looking at the cultural/tourist scene, we visit a couple of supermarkets - great places to see the people in their natural habitat (we've all seen the 'People of Walmart'- want to share your life surrounded by them?) see what goods are on offer (quality and freshness of fruit and veg {local or imported?}, the meat and fish) and the prices (a good way the gauge some of the costs of living there). We look in estate agents' windows, look at what is on offer in that area, how long has it been for sale at that price (faded ads are a dead give-away) which gives an idea of how well it is priced), etc. What is the place like for petty crime or unruly behaviour (broken street-lights, graffiti), general air of prosperity or run-down (shops closed down or closing down) all the sort of things that might decide you to either want, or not want, to live there. Another good give-away is dog-poo (if there's lots about, people let their dogs run free or if the dogs are on a lead the people don't care about fouling other areas so probably don't care about much else either)


All that is true, Baldy...and in spite of very many visits over thirty years or more I hadn't really taken these things into account in Prague. The friends we visited were mainly well-to-do professionals involved in public/artistic life, people who had travelled, spoke many foreign languages. We ate in good restaurants or in people's houses, didn't have to buy food, clothes, the odd domestic item. Also, importantly, we didn't have to organise our own lives in any major way. We kind of floated above the routine, the humdrum.
And that's what you do when you're on holiday and one big reason why a 'dream 'fortnight in a hotel or rented villa in Spain in August is a bad reason for wanting to shift your whole life there forever.


----------



## juelz (Feb 4, 2014)

Goldeneye said:


> H'mmm I was actually responding to sarah&darren the originator of this thread!! ! :confused2:
> ..
> ..


Sorry Goldeneye, my apologies, I thought you were replying to me as it was straight under mine. My mistake. 😉😉😉


----------



## juelz (Feb 4, 2014)

Thanks Stevec2x,
Your advice was most helpful and positive. Thank you on the advice of the areas to look at. I'll be going over in March or April to check out the areas and get a feel for them, talk to locals etc, in essence a fact finding mission. 
I shall then be returning again in September, for another week to look at properties and maybe buy then. I'm going over to Torrevieja for health reasons and to escape the bad weather here, lashing wind and rain as i write and a lot very bad flooding in parts.
While I'm under no elusion that there is crime everywhere, some threads on this, had me totally petrified, with talks of people being gassed in their homes, bound up n burgled. 
Thank you once again for your helpful positive advice. 
Cheers, Juelz
While I'm under


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

juelz said:


> escape the bad weather here, lashing wind and rain as i write and a lot very bad flooding in parts.


We get those here in Spain as well; we also get roads being washed out and sliding down the mountainside as well.




juelz said:


> While I'm under no elusion that there is crime everywhere, some threads on this, had me totally petrified, with talks of people being gassed in their homes, bound up n burgled.


But the Civil war is over and, for the most part, the Guardia Civil are a bit better behaved now. As for the Mossos up in the Barcelona area... that is another story.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

juelz said:


> Thanks Stevec2x,
> Your advice was most helpful and positive. Thank you on the advice of the areas to look at. I'll be going over in March or April to check out the areas and get a feel for them, talk to locals etc, in essence a fact finding mission.
> I shall then be returning again in September, for another week to look at properties and maybe buy then. I'm going over to Torrevieja for health reasons and to escape the bad weather here, lashing wind and rain as i write and a lot very bad flooding in parts.
> While I'm under no elusion that there is crime everywhere, some threads on this, had me totally petrified, with talks of people being gassed in their homes, bound up n burgled.
> ...


Don't take too much notice of the lurid and largely apocryphal tales of muggings, gassings,burglaries and so on. We were burgled here, in a very clumsy, amateurish way..but then we were burgled more than once in the UK and in our first year in Prague were subjected to attempted muggings five times..note I said 'attempted muggings'. We fought back, successfully.
But the weather here today is vile...high winds, heavy raín, just as in the UK.
But the sun will shine again, very soon.


----------



## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

juelz said:


> Thanks Stevec2x,
> Your advice was most helpful and positive. Thank you on the advice of the areas to look at. I'll be going over in March or April to check out the areas and get a feel for them, talk to locals etc, in essence a fact finding mission.
> I shall then be returning again in September, for another week to look at properties and maybe buy then. I'm going over to Torrevieja for health reasons and to escape the bad weather here, lashing wind and rain as i write and a lot very bad flooding in parts.
> While I'm under no elusion that there is crime everywhere, some threads on this, had me totally petrified, with talks of people being gassed in their homes, bound up n burgled.
> ...


Although I appreciate your concern, crime isn't just 'everywhere' in Spain, it's everywhere!! 
25 years ago when we lived in the UK we had our house broken into, our car broken into and our business broken into.... There was a fair mess to clear up and damage..
.
My in-laws who lived in Tenerife had their house broken into, instead of ripping & damaging the place the thieves were kind enough to pull out a cabinet remove the plug from the TV & feed it through the tiny hole in the cabinet.. 
Their neighbour had their car stolen, 3 weeks or so later there was a note placed in the door letting them know where the car was. ( _It had been dumped there about a week earlier, I guess as it hadn't been discovered the thieves put a note in the door)_ It was surmised that as it had been Carnival season they fancied a bit of 'Island hopping' and had 'borrowed' the car!! It was returned with a full tank of petrol, when it was stolen it was on almost empty!! So, for some more 'civilized' crime... Move to Tenerife!!


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Goldeneye said:


> Although I appreciate your concern, crime isn't just 'everywhere' in Spain, it's everywhere!!
> 25 years ago when we lived in the UK we had our house broken into, our car broken into and our business broken into.... There was a fair mess to clear up and damage..
> .
> My in-laws who lived in Tenerife had their house broken into, instead of ripping & damaging the place the thieves were kind enough to pull out a cabinet remove the plug from the TV & feed it through the tiny hole in the cabinet..
> Their neighbour had their car stolen, 3 weeks or so later there was a note placed in the door letting them know where the car was. ( _It had been dumped there about a week earlier, I guess as it hadn't been discovered the thieves put a note in the door)_ It was surmised that as it had been Carnival season they fancied a bit of 'Island hopping' and had 'borrowed' the car!! It was returned with a full tank of petrol, when it was stolen it was on almost empty!! So, for some more 'civilized' crime... Move to Tenerife!!


what's crime?


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> what's crime?


What the banks and financial institutions have perpetrated for the last decade or so.
Oh..sorry..apparently what RBS did- fixing the LIBOR rate, misselling insurances, deliberately bankrupting businesses to purchase them at fire- sale prices are, we are told, 'misdemeanours'.


----------



## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> what's crime?


Are you saying there's no crime in your vicinity?


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

mrypg9 said:


> What the banks and financial institutions have perpetrated for the last decade or so.
> Oh..sorry..apparently what RBS did- fixing the LIBOR rate, misselling insurances, deliberately bankrupting businesses to purchase them at fire- sale prices are, we are told, 'misdemeanours'.


A cleaner working in a school in our town found and pocketed a £5 note she found in a classroom. She was sacked and reported to the police.
A senior teacher and Conservative Councillor at the same school bought items for his home- carpets, tv, computer- on the school account.
He was given early retirement and a generous pension. You see, he was distressed because his wife had left him.
It's how things are done in the UK too...


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

extranjero said:


> Are you saying there's no crime in your vicinity?


by comparison with all that is being mentioned, it is virtually non-existent.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

extranjero said:


> Are you saying there's no crime in your vicinity?


Tell me of one place in the world where there is no crime.
Of course there is crime in Spain as there is in the UK.
But please don't créate the illusion that Spain is more 'dangerous ' than any other country.
I walk frequently, after midnight, in my village or Estepona, alone or with Sandra, no dogs.
No way would I do that anywhere in Prague or the UK.


----------



## juelz (Feb 4, 2014)

Hi guys, 
I feel i have to clarify something, i hope I haven't opened a can of worm's, but i feel I've been misquoted. If you take a look back at my post, you will see that I didn't say "there is crime everywhere in Spain", I said, Quote " I'm under no illusion crime is everywhere" by that I meant everywhere, as in everywhere! I didn't say Everywhere in SPAIN. 
Unfortunately crime is worldwide ! A sad sign of the times and unfortunately we've probably all been a victim of crime, at some time or another, either in our country of origin or where we are residing now.
The only thing we can try to do is to be vigilant and make ourselves aware of scams/dangers. Its a big world out there boys n girls, just need to keep our wits about us and not be fool hardy. 
That said, its a beautiful world also, so get out n enjoy it ! X


----------



## globalexplorer (Jan 1, 2013)

In response to the comment, 'Tell me one place in the world where there is no crime', I will say my wife and I lived for a few months in Šibenik, Croatia, on the Dalmatian Coast. Not only was the town so peaceful that the police officers in town were bored, but also the people that we met wanted visitors to like them. Šibenik is now the standard by which I measure other places, and based on our first month in Alicante, I have to say it measures up quite well.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

globalexplorer said:


> In response to the comment, 'Tell me one place in the world where there is no crime', I will say my wife and I lived for a few months in Šibenik, Croatia, on the Dalmatian Coast. Not only was the town so peaceful that the police officers in town were bored, but also the people that we met wanted visitors to like them. Šibenik is now the standard by which I measure other places, and based on our first month in Alicante, I have to say it measures up quite well.


I am quite sure there is petty crime in Sibenik. You just didn't get to hear of it. And of course residents want foreign tourists to like them!
Not that long ago horrendous crimes were committed there as in other places in Croatia during the savage war.
Our own experiences may be very dissimilar to those of others. My house was burgled...next door's wasn't.
There are crimes in Alicante...robberies, rapes, murders. You personally have not experienced any of this and I hope it continues.


----------



## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

I may as well ask.

How different is Malaga, Marbella, Fuengirola, Estepona, Torremolinos in comparison to Torrevieja?


----------



## airam13 (Mar 9, 2014)

Goldeneye said:


> Although I appreciate your concern, crime isn't just 'everywhere' in Spain, it's everywhere!!
> 25 years ago when we lived in the UK we had our house broken into, our car broken into and our business broken into.... There was a fair mess to clear up and damage..
> .
> My in-laws who lived in Tenerife had their house broken into, instead of ripping & damaging the place the thieves were kind enough to pull out a cabinet remove the plug from the TV & feed it through the tiny hole in the cabinet..
> Their neighbour had their car stolen, 3 weeks or so later there was a note placed in the door letting them know where the car was. ( _It had been dumped there about a week earlier, I guess as it hadn't been discovered the thieves put a note in the door)_ It was surmised that as it had been Carnival season they fancied a bit of 'Island hopping' and had 'borrowed' the car!! It was returned with a full tank of petrol, when it was stolen it was on almost empty!! So, for some more 'civilized' crime... Move to Tenerife!!


it seems spanish islands are safer, I lived in Menorca and in winter you could have your car open and your house open, no problem, serious, if someone stole a mobile phone it was in the front page of the papers!


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sirtravelot said:


> I may as well ask.
> 
> How different is Malaga, Marbella, Fuengirola, Estepona, Torremolinos in comparison to Torrevieja?


Estepona is to Torrevieja as Blackpool to Swanage.
It is a quiet, Spanish family resort with hardly any night life worth mentioning, even in summer.
The Old Town has been described as 'the most beautiful in Spain' which is only a slight exaggeration.
There aren't nearly as many Brits as in Fuengirola or Torremolinos and it isn't as upmarket or sophisticated as Marbella. Neither is it as touristy.
Definitely not the place to go if you want action, noise and boozy crowds...

I don't know much about Malaga but it is not like Torrevieja.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Estepona is to Torrevieja as Blackpool to Swanage.


Not really being familiar in the least with any or all of those four places, I would question from the rest of you post, whether you have that the right way round.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Not really being familiar in the least with any or all of those four places, I would question from the rest of you post, whether you have that the right way round.


You are right, Baldy....soy pillock!!

I'm currently delirious with joy..I've just bought the complete box set of 'Allo 'Allo' for €40.....Sixteen DVDS, eighty- five episodes....
I've always wanted to have all the episodes but the price was too high, over €120.
I've got a couple of series but to have them all.....:lalala


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Some **** pinched my car radio yesterday. It was an ancient model.

Am I now terrified of crime? No..I left the car unlocked and anyone desperate enough to risk being caught pinching something they'd be lucky to get €5 for is desperate and is welcome to it, whether the money will be used for food or drugs.



Sweary filter works in Spanish...I'll try it in French , German and Czech later...


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I worry about people who believe that there is no petty crime in their area and they can safely leave their cars and homes unlocked. It's one of the delusions suffered by wearers of rose-coloured spectacles. 

I thought our village was one of those places. If you leave a bar without collecting your change, or dropped something in the street, people will run after you with it. You can safely walk through the streets at any hour without fear of being mugged.

Yes, 99.9% of people are honest and wouldn't dream of stealing from you. 

But sadly there are drug addicts _everywhere_ these days, even in the villages. They will nick anything because they are desperate opportunists. A friend had the cartridges stolen from his printer, when he left his front door open. An elderly man, asleep in bed with his window open, was stabbed several times for the sake of 10 euros. Money was even stolen from the collection box in the church recently.

So please, please, don't take silly risks. You are still very unlikely to be the victim of violent crime in rural Spain, but it only takes one crazed crackhead to spoil your life forever.


----------



## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Poor crackheads.

Get blamed for everything.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Pazcat said:


> Poor crackheads.
> 
> Get blamed for everything.


Don't get me wrong, I feel desperately sorry for them! They are too often the victims of a 65% unemployment rate amongst under-25s here and an appalling lack of rehabilitation programmes. It's a problem that isn't going to go away until kids have better career options than working for drug dealers.


----------



## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

I just find it funny that nobody ever blames the poor, desperate, alcoholics, mentally ill, etc... first.
In fact many of the factors are often interchangeable and go hand in hand.

It's always the crackheads, which strikes me as odd as although recreational cocaine use is very high crack use is only a tiny percentage. No doubt that some probably do commit crimes, possibly are repeat offenders too but I find it hard to believe they are responsible for all the crime their reputation seems to think they commit. 
Especially when as you say 65% of the youth are unemployed and desperate and 30% of the rest of the population as well.
I'd be blaming alcoholics before anything else but that doesn't have the same fear factor I suppose nor would it be entirely accurate either.

At the end of the day crime has more to do with a plethora of social reasons than anything else with drugs just being one facet of it.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Pazcat said:


> I just find it funny that nobody ever blames the poor, desperate, alcoholics, mentally ill, etc... first.
> In fact many of the factors are often interchangeable and go hand in hand.
> 
> It's always the crackheads, which strikes me as odd as although recreational cocaine use is very high crack use is only a tiny percentage. No doubt that some probably do commit crimes, possibly are repeat offenders too but I find it hard to believe they are responsible for all the crime their reputation seems to think they commit.
> ...


You're right of course. It's just that where I live, the biggest problem is with kids addicted to crack and heroin. 

There are alcoholics here too, and people with mental problems, but they are tolerated and cared for by the community. However the hard drugs problem is a recent one and the local people just don't know how to handle it. One old man took in a homeless young heroin addict out of the goodness of his heart and she stole his late wife's jewellery. It's heartbreaking!

Detenida una joven por repetidos robos al anciano que la había acogido en su casa en Alcalá


----------



## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

I think in your previous post where you mention there is no support and care given is important. Spain is still a young country and in many ways is stuck in it's old prejudices. Greater awareness and community support won't fix an issue but it is at least a start but it hard to break the shackles.

Still you get these stories everywhere you go.

I'm not sure that it's prevalent amongst the blue rinse set in Torre though, I may of course be wrong.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Pazcat said:


> I think in your previous post where you mention there is no support and care given is important. Spain is still a young country and in many ways is stuck in it's old prejudices. Greater awareness and community support won't fix an issue but it is at least a start but it hard to break the shackles.
> 
> Still you get these stories everywhere you go.
> 
> I'm not sure that it's prevalent amongst the blue rinse set in Torre though, I may of course be wrong.


I think if I had to live amongst the blue rinse set in Torre I'd probably resort to hard drugs myself.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

As I said, each time we were robbed, it was because of my carelessness. There are desperate people everywhere these days.

We have not been adversely affected by our experiences of crime...in fact, in a way they have been beneficial. Newer radio for the car, better IPad and when we were burgled and I saw my underwear, strewn across the bedroom floor and considered how thhe eyes of a stranger would view it, I went out and bought loads of new stuff.

But joking apart,not everyone is so lucky or can take a light view of losing things. Our burglars took a hand axe with them when they fled. Did they do it to protect themselves from Azor, who was hot on their heels?(Most would). Or, if cornered, would they have used it on us? Who knows?

Crime and poverty do not automatically go hannd in hand - assuming so is to add insult to injury to the poor. But there is a link between crime levels and deprivation. Drug usage and abuse is found in all sectors of society but again, poverty breeds despair which leads to seeking escapes of whatever kind, usually drugs and alcohol.

With one in every two Esteponeros seeking work, I'm not surprised crime is on the increase. In some countries such a level of joblessness would result in civil war.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> I think if I had to live amongst the blue rinse set in Torre I'd probably resort to hard drugs myself.


If by 'Torre' the poster means Torremolinos, I think it would be less 'blue rinse' and more spikes, gel and frosted tips.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> If by 'Torre' the poster means Torremolinos, I think it would be less 'blue rinse' and more spikes, gel and frosted tips.


Er- -check the thread title!


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> Er- -check the thread title!


Then definitely not blue rinse!! Much more likely spiky hair and heels!! I associate blue rinse with Eastbourne, Torquay, shabby-genteel places like that.

I'd forgotten this thread was about Torrevieja....tbh it's not a place I think about that often..


----------

