This is not meant to be a scaremongering thread but I have been following the tale of a motorhomer on another forum who recently had the misfortune to become victim to a (I thought) well publicised scam.
Now a picture may be worth a thousand words but I reckon a video is worth far more still. At my request for example videos on YouTube the motorhome robbery victim came up with the following clips -
[video width=560 height=315 type=youtube]ZGzStVTEyJ8[/video]
[video width=560 height=315 type=youtube]22hnukD1ADc[/video]
[video width=560 height=315 type=youtube]JuEkXambaTA[/video]
As said this is not meant to be scaremongering but actually seeing these robberies in action really does highlight the need to be aware of the problem.
Descriptions of these robberies tend to have a common theme. That is a car pulls alongside the victim and indicates that there is something wrong at the rear of their vehicle and suggests pulling over. Once on the hard shoulder the victims are distracted while another robber enters the other side of the vehicle and helps themselves to any valuables that are within reach.
Advice on what to do?
The main thing must be that you don't stop for anyone unless its a marked police vehicle.
I hope this gives an insight as to what to keep your eyes peeled for when travelling on your holidays and although the video clips are all from the AP-7 around Barcelona the warning applies for anywhere, not just Spain.
Now a picture may be worth a thousand words but I reckon a video is worth far more still. At my request for example videos on YouTube the motorhome robbery victim came up with the following clips -
[video width=560 height=315 type=youtube]ZGzStVTEyJ8[/video]
[video width=560 height=315 type=youtube]22hnukD1ADc[/video]
[video width=560 height=315 type=youtube]JuEkXambaTA[/video]
As said this is not meant to be scaremongering but actually seeing these robberies in action really does highlight the need to be aware of the problem.
Descriptions of these robberies tend to have a common theme. That is a car pulls alongside the victim and indicates that there is something wrong at the rear of their vehicle and suggests pulling over. Once on the hard shoulder the victims are distracted while another robber enters the other side of the vehicle and helps themselves to any valuables that are within reach.
Advice on what to do?
The main thing must be that you don't stop for anyone unless its a marked police vehicle.
I hope this gives an insight as to what to keep your eyes peeled for when travelling on your holidays and although the video clips are all from the AP-7 around Barcelona the warning applies for anywhere, not just Spain.
If it ain't broke..... Don't fix it!
Hi Paul,
I really wish you the very best of luck with your campaign, I realise how fired up you are about the event and the official side of dealing (or not) with your situation. I will gladly PM you with my name and address to add to your petition.
You'll have a large mountain to climb and I hope you can maintain the energy to climb it.
For my part I would like to see more awareness of the original problem, the robbers that frequent these Autovias (and other places, lets not just single out Spain). I hope that all motorhome media help to spread the word.
Until there are any changes to the way things are (and possibly getting worse in a declining economy) it is only by creating awareness that folks in the future will know what to look for and how to deal with it, thereby avoiding the additional problems that you encountered with the authorities.
I also don't want new travelers to Spain to be unduly worried either. Although highlighted by your experiences and by displaying YouTube videos of these events it is not an everyday occurrence as far as motorhomers are concerned. Very, very many more motorhomes pass through these sort of areas without a hitch than the occasional one that gets caught up.
If all get to know about it then even that occasional one won't stop for the thieves either. I'm pretty sure that if you knew about the problem in advance you would have not been caught out, even if you had used that route.
I really wish you the very best of luck with your campaign, I realise how fired up you are about the event and the official side of dealing (or not) with your situation. I will gladly PM you with my name and address to add to your petition.
You'll have a large mountain to climb and I hope you can maintain the energy to climb it.
For my part I would like to see more awareness of the original problem, the robbers that frequent these Autovias (and other places, lets not just single out Spain). I hope that all motorhome media help to spread the word.
Until there are any changes to the way things are (and possibly getting worse in a declining economy) it is only by creating awareness that folks in the future will know what to look for and how to deal with it, thereby avoiding the additional problems that you encountered with the authorities.
I also don't want new travelers to Spain to be unduly worried either. Although highlighted by your experiences and by displaying YouTube videos of these events it is not an everyday occurrence as far as motorhomers are concerned. Very, very many more motorhomes pass through these sort of areas without a hitch than the occasional one that gets caught up.
If all get to know about it then even that occasional one won't stop for the thieves either. I'm pretty sure that if you knew about the problem in advance you would have not been caught out, even if you had used that route.
If it ain't broke..... Don't fix it!
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