TW
0

My daughter and her family are holidaying at our villa in Santa Ponsa. Whilst viewing sketches and pictures down by the beach, her handbag was expertly picked and quite a lot of money taken. Fortunately two of her sons chased after a man who was in the crowd and quickly making his escape. They caught him and managed to take some of the money off him before three of his accomplices turned up and pulled the original guy free and made off.

The Police were called and duly arrived some 15 to 20 minutes later.
My daughter gave the police a very good description of the pickpocket even though she was in a very distressed state.
She was asked to attend the Palma Nova police station this morning, [20/8/2012], where she was kept waiting for three hours.
When she asked for a police report for insurance purposes, she was told she must come back the following day to further her complaint. She was also told that she would have to have an interpreter and that he or she would cost her 50 euros per hour.

Considering what she had already been through I think this is quite scandalous.
They have come to Majorca for rest and recuperation, they do not mind helping the police if there is a chance of catching these criminals, but to expect her to pay for a translator is wrong.

To refuse her a police report unless she agrees to the demands of the police is also wrong.
It is bad enough that Majorca is riddled with these criminals, it is even more of a poor show to expect non Spanish speaking tourists to pay for a translator when assisting the police in their enquiries.

Yours sincerely
B. C Finch, currently in the UK