BURGLARS leering at naked women, tourists spiked in crowded bars and even getting tailed by thugs in supermarket car parks – this is the dark side of sunny Spain the holiday brochures won’t tell you about.
As thousands flock to the nation and its sandy islands this summer, Brits have been warned to be on “high alert” by cops as criminal gangs up the ante with a terrifying new toolbox of tricks, ranging from sinister gas attacks to conniving pickpocketing swindles.
Across the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca , crime rates have soared so drastically that horrified expats are even taking matters into their own hands, setting up a new political party to lead the fightback against the gangs.
The shocking spree has come into sharp focus in recent months after high-profile celebrities like Nick Grimshaw and Jacqueline Jossa saw thousands of pounds worth of valuables snatched from their villas.
But ordinary holidaymakers are being targeted too, with traumatised Brits telling The Sun how they were attacked in their home, left hallucinating after being drugged, and robbed of over £15,000 on their way to the airport.
One particularly chilling attack in Marbella was caught on camera last month, showing burglars flashing a torch on a woman as she slept naked before stealing 300 euros.
It was a scene all too familiar to Newcastle mum Gill, who tells us how she was robbed and brutally assaulted in Alicante’s Playa Flamenca complex in July.
The 59-year-old said she heard a knock on the door of her holiday home at 2pm and, thinking it was her neighbour who had left just moments earlier, opened it.
Gill said: “There were two lads standing there, and one said ‘Michael?’, pretending they were looking for someone.
“As I was about to speak, he grabbed me by the throat and pushed me into the house and on to the floor.
“Then they started going for my gold, grabbing the two chains on my neck, which have sovereigns on them.
“I was trying to kick and hit them, and I was screaming at the top of my lungs, then they grabbed my arm and stamped on it and kicked me repeatedly in my side.”
Brit expat Priscilla Cromie, a member of a new political party demanding police do more to keep tourists safe, says crime rates have soared in recent years in resorts such as the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.
The National Police in Alicante told The Sun how criminals often “take advantage” of busy crowds and drunk holidaymakers during the peak season.
The head of the force’s communications department warned that a 300 per cent swell in populations of resorts such as Benidorm and Alicante over the summer brings a huge spike in all types of crime.
Over the weekend that Gill was targeted in her home, two men in similar clothing were filmed breaking into a villa in the same neighbourhood.
Footage shows the masked intruders scaling the fence before checking out the property to see if there were tourists or homeowners inside.
There’s a big change towards tourists, we’re prey and easy pickings, and honestly I don’t think the police cared
Donna DunneBrit holidaymaker
Gill, who is still recovering from a double lung transplant last year, said she is completely “shook up” by her ordeal.
She had to be taken to hospital and treated for a dislocated elbow and is now wearing a sling.
The mum claimed the intruders were wearing black T-shirts and tracksuit bottoms.
“I’m always scared they are going to come back,” she added.
“I’ve had this house for 13 years, and I have never felt unsafe.”
Gill said the police seemed “uninterested” and told her the garden gate should have been locked as a security precaution.
She said: “They expect you to be locked up indoors at all times if you don’t want to be robbed.”
Foiling the thieves
The Costa Blanca has been hit by a wave of robberies this year – particularly in Orihuela Costa, a popular destination for British tourists.
Expat Priscilla has been monitoring the uptick in crime as part of her role as a founding member of a new local political party called PIOC – which is demanding more police and security.
She says petty crime in the region has soared over the past couple of years and warns that any tourists coming to the Costa Blanca must be vigilant.
She told The Sun: “Don’t wear expensive jewellery , stay together with your group or partner and don’t walk home from the bars alone.
“They must also take extra care in supermarket car parks, where I have seen people mugged or pickpocketed this year.”
Similar advice was given by the National Police of Alicante, the region that is home to Brit holiday hotspot Orihuela Costa.
Their spokesman said: “On the beaches, there are more pickpockets, who take advantage of large crowds to steal phones or wallets left in bags by people’s towels.
“In Benidorm in particular, there are gangs dedicated to pickpocketing tourists using the ‘hugging’ method, in which they approach targets and pretend they know them, distracting them so they or their partners in crime can pickpocket them.”
He added: “Do not carry expensive items with you and don’t walk around with large amounts of cash.
“Be extra vigilant if someone you do not know approaches you.
“Never leave wallets, phones or valuable items on a table or bar, and avoid wearing expensive necklaces or watches.”
However, he said the type of crime targeting tourists was different to the Costa del Sol, which has more burglaries and home invasions.
‘Easy prey’
It comes after a TikTok beauty influencer claimed thugs entered her rented Marbella villa and stole more than €60,000 (£52,000) worth of clothes and jewellery while she slept.
Noemi Hopper, 27, told her 1.4million followers last month that the house was gassed to ensure she was in a deep sleep while the “professional thieves” raided her bedroom.
Hopper said: “They stole my blue Chanel bag… they had to use gas to put us in a deep sleep.”
The social media star had been renting the villa with her family, none of whom woke up during the raid.
She said the robbers made a chilling gesture, explaining: “They removed a photo of me and my friends that was inside the bag they stole and left it for me.”
Noemi branded the thieves “professionals”, saying they knew what they were looking for, with a watch worth tens of thousands among the stolen items.
The attack mirrors recent raids on celebrity holiday homes, with EastEnders star Jacqueline Jossa last year seeing £20,000 worth of jewels and cash stolen from her Marbella villa.
Meanwhile, like Noemi, broadcaster Nick Grimshaw was targeted by criminals who reportedly used sedative gas after renting a villa in Ibiza for his 40th birthday earlier last August.
There’s been a drastic jump in crime in tourist areas between Barcelona and the French border
Donna DunneHolidaymaker
While the Costa del Sol is a much-loved holiday destination, it is also a hotbed for criminals, with an estimated 113 mafia gangs operating in the region.
This is due to its strategic location on the coast of southern Spain , which is one of the main entry points for drugs from both South America and North Africa.
But the high-level drug trafficking gangs prefer to fly under the radar, while their bosses enjoy the luxury lifestyle the coast has to offer.
It is the low-level, local gangs who are targeting tourists and wealthy properties in resorts like Marbella, Benahavis and Benalmadena.
Brit holidaymaker Nicola Lord told The Sun her husband was spiked during their holiday to Benalmadena seven weeks ago.
The seaside town is around 30 minutes by car from Marbella and has a huge British expat community, and welcomes thousands of UK tourists each year.
“He was drugged in a bar in the 24-hour square,” she claimed.
“He went missing in Benalmadena for six hours, he had no clue who I was when I found him, and the police had been searching everywhere for him.”
Nicola said she found him at around 6am and that he was hallucinating.
“I just want to make other holidaymakers aware,” she said, after branding the experience “heartbreaking”.
In a Facebook forum for Benalmadena in June, Tessa Jukes warned that a friend of hers was also drugged and robbed.
She wrote: “Just to make people aware, a chap I have known for years went to 24-hour square last weekend, was drugged, robbed of €8,000 (taken from his bank cards).
“Bit more to it than that, but regardless, these things do happen out there. Stay safe if you go around the area, police were informed.”
In May, influencer Vanessa Mariposa revealed she was taken to hospital after being spiked with date rape drugs and robbed at a rooftop party in Mallorca.
The 32-year-old Austrian told her 800,000 followers she and her friend had three glasses of wine when “suddenly, we both felt really, really bad, and I immediately realised something was wrong with me.
“Both of us started feeling extremely unwell, out of nowhere.
“’I couldn’t walk properly, I threw up multiple times and I completely blacked out – I lost all memory of the night. That’s when I knew something was really wrong.
“I really thought I was going to die.”
While she was “drugged” she claims her Cartier bracelet was stolen along with her phone’s SIM card.
She believes the spikers may have had more sinister intentions, but were thwarted because her partner Luca was nearby and came to her aid.
£15k airport raid
Meanwhile, gangs are also targeting tourists travelling between the French and Spanish border.
Donna Dunne, 45, has been travelling between Barcelona, Salou and Marseille in France for more than ten years.
Her van was broken into this month in broad daylight in a popular mobile park just north of the Spanish border.
Donna told The Sun she believes she may have been followed in a car after noticing a vehicle behind her for some time.
She said she lost €18,000 (£15.5k) worth of equipment, clothes and jewellery.
“There’s been a drastic jump in crime in tourist areas between Barcelona and the French border,” she said.
“There’s a big change towards tourists, we’re prey and easy pickings, and honestly, I don’t think the police cared.
“I was able to locate my MacBook and show them where it was for 18 hours, but they didn’t care; they just wanted to do the report and for me to be gone. They see it so often now.”
Donna said she was parked at a tourist attraction when the thieves picked the lock of her van and raided it.
She said she had so many valuable possessions in the vehicle because she was driving her teenage daughters to the airport and so all their suitcases were packed inside.
“They took…my engagement ring, all my camera equipment, clothes and passports, it was a disaster, and now my travel insurance company is fighting over every detail.”
With several weeks left of summer holidays, Brits have been urged to be cautious on their trips abroad and take measures to avoid being an easy target for criminal gangs.
