On patrol one morning, officers are advised by some tourists that they have found three high-end phones. They have been stolen. Thieves steal anything valuable for sale on the black market. The thefts are mostly at night. The items are hidden in order to be collected the next morning. The thieves don't want to carry them in case the police stop them. In this instance, the police have got to the phones before the thieves can return.
The officers spot a trilero in operation, but in a flash he has disappeared. "We're up against professionals, catching them in action is almost mission impossible." He points to one individual. "He's one of them, but he stopped when he saw us." In Playa de Palma, there are two gangs who have been scamming tourists for some fifty years - the Bustamantes and the Lisiados.
In one of the streets there are numerous illegal sellers. As soon as the police appear, there is a stampede. No arrests and just a box of sunglasses seized. The police say that organisation makes it nigh on impossible to put a stop to the street vending. "It's a mafia, everything is organised. They have a sixth sense to notice the police. And they are constantly warning each other."
And as for tourists, "many of them come here just to get drunk". An officer tells the story of a man who arrived in the resort at 10am and, by midday, had already been expelled from the hotel for balconing. The tourism of excesses decree is supposed to put an end to this sort of thing. But there are visitors who either unaware of the regulations or who simply take no notice of them.
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Playa de Palma is a 'war zone', Santa Catalina is 'terrifying'. Who comes up with this nonsense. Have they ever been to an English city on a Saturday night ?
No, it's not very flattering. And yet, when anything is done about it, you can hear the screaming all the way back to Liverpool. And frankly, knowing how the media works, I'm sceptical whether it's really the "war zone" they claim. No doubt there's drunken tourists, and the inevitable ripoffs that see them coming, but it could be a bit exaggerated for "baiting effect". For example, the "problem zone" On Playa de Palma is pretty well limited to the area around mega park. That's a tiny fraction of Playa de Palma. The rest is rather benign. In any case, just be happy it's limited to a couple of dots on the map. Unfortunately, many tend to only know of those dots and little else. But in the big picture, that could be a definitive plus.
Sounds awful. It seems the crims and pissed up tourists all deserve each other to be in such a cesspit. The police, bless their cotton socks, clearly haven’t a clue nor a chance. Here’s some advice…don’t wear your uniform, look more like a punter. You’ll catch them far easier. As for the three card tricksters? Is this the 1930s? What moron gets involved in such an ancient scam? Oh yes, sorry, a drunk tourist moron. Easy pickings.
This is the sad side of Majorca. Why can the police go undercover, and look like and act similar, but not drunken tourists. Wear button hole cameras for evidence. Hopefully this may be a way of catching the thieves. Drunken tourists, remove their passports and put inside with a stamp "Drunken Tourist" If from the UK, it may prevent these drunks from future travel overseas.