Spain warning

[Eileen]

Yesterday a friend was targeted by some bandits, This was on the A7 south of Alicante near ELX/ELCHE. They drive across the front to block you in then the driver gets out with a map in his hand and asks for directions in English. It seems to be 2 men in a black car. The other couple were both in the motorhome and they still got her handbag,so be extra careful anyone travelling that way

 

[crazygrandad]

I get mugged every time I drive across France, at these little booths!

 

[estresao]

Yesterday a friend was targeted by some bandits, This was on the A7 south of Alicante near ELX/ELCHE. They drive across the front to block you in then the driver gets out with a map in his hand and asks for directions in English. It seems to be 2 men in a black car. The other couple were both in the motorhome and they still got her handbag,so be extra careful anyone travelling that way

Did you stop inside the highway? That's not legal as long is not an emergency. Event if police wanted you stop they ask you to pull over in a safe place off the highway.

 

[Grumpy Mike]

Yesterday a friend was targeted by some bandits, This was on the A7 south of Alicante near ELX/ELCHE. They drive across the front to block you in then the driver gets out with a map in his hand and asks for directions in English. It seems to be 2 men in a black car. The other couple were both in the motorhome and they still got her handbag,so be extra careful anyone travelling that way

What happened? Did they get in? Was the vehicle not locked? Its not clear?

Thanks

 

[Grumpy Mike]

Did you stop inside the highway? That's not legal as long is not an emergency. Event if police wanted you stop they ask you to pull over in a safe place off the highway.

I dont suppose the robber/thief read that law....

 

[BikerGran]

I know there are lot of ways that tourists have stuff stolen in Spain but that sounds like an 'Urban Legend' to me.

 

[Loz]

Were they gassed as well?

 

[BerndRos]

Yesterday a friend was targeted by some bandits, This was on the A7 south of Alicante near ELX/ELCHE. They drive across the front to block you in then the driver gets out with a map in his hand and asks for directions in English. It seems to be 2 men in a black car. The other couple were both in the motorhome and they still got her handbag,so be extra careful anyone travelling that way

Yes, that happens out there on the AP7 and in particular at Barcelona. I am always very wary of that area and get through it and away ASAP.

Obviously the odds are stacked in your favour, but still best to be wary.

 

[bigmac77]

I think @Eileen is a Russian bot whose aim is to make us fear traveling 'abroad'.

 

[Grumpy Mike]

I got nervous after reading the gassing reports etc for my first trip down through France/Spain. Wish people would check these things are true before posting them. I have never had any issues at all (Yet) and our place isn't far from Elche... No one in the community mentioned anything???????????? They generally warn you of any issues...

 

[WelshGas]

Always seems to be a friend or friend of a friend.

 

[Auberg-ine]

I can testimony from my own experience some year ago. I was approaching Barcelona at the highway coming from France, with and Espace filled with boxes. A car with four persons drove besides me. One showed something like a police badge and urged me to take the next exit. My first reaction was to do so. My second thought was to think that at least they should have a flashlight... And so I gave the impression I was following, they drove in front of me, then they took the exit, while at the very last second I continued the highway, and avoided a confrontation.....
Indeed, never trust these 'anonymous' cops.

 

[Ksar-el-kebir]

I can testimony from my own experience some year ago. I was approaching Barcelona at the highway coming from France, with and Espace filled with boxes. A car with four persons drove besides me. One showed something like a police badge and urged me to take the next exit. My first reaction was to do so. My second thought was to think that at least they should have a flashlight... And so I gave the impression I was following, they drove in front of me, then they took the exit, while at the very last second I continued the highway, and avoided a confrontation.....
Indeed, never trust these 'anonymous' cops.

I first drove to Morocco in 1976 when there weren’t motorways in Spain and never had a problem, possibly because the van I was driving was old even then!
Subsequently I’ve driven all over Europe as a truck driver.
In all those years the only time the truck was broken into was on the Luxembourg to Brussels motorway although the perpetrator fled when I woke up and shouted.
I have had colleagues who have been gassed, guess I’ve been lucky!
When I drive down to Algeciras now I go via Irun and Madrid or Irun and Palencia and Seville. The only toll I pay is between Irun and San Sebastián and avoid one toll in France by using the N10 rather than the A10 between Tours and Bordeaux.
Thought about avoiding France altogether by going to Santander or Bilbao but it’s a long crossing and more expensive than driving through France.
Fortunately time is not an issue for me, apart from being 66!
Anyway if I can help anyone with Spain and Morocco, feel free to ask.

 

[Amarillo]

I have had colleagues who have been gassed, guess I’ve been lucky!

That sounds alarming. What have been their symptoms, and how have they known they were gassed?




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[Alform]

Here is a previous warning from the UK Gov website

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/holidaymakers-warned-to-watch-out-for-highway-robbers-in-spain

With a video and tips further down the page

 

[andrew149]

Sadly these type of attacks are quite common here at the moment, the other one to watch out for is they will deflate your tyre and the services and then follow you and flag you down to warn you of the flat tyre, whilst you check it, they rob your van

 

[Ksar-el-kebir]

That sounds alarming. What have been their symptoms, and how have they known they were gassed?




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You wake up with a feeling like a hangover and your van is stripped.

 

[leightonjthomas]

Not the start of another gassing saga?
I’ve come over all faint........

 

[Annik]

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/...ls-of-france-motorhome-burglary-36221975.html

 

[westfalia]

You wake up with a feeling like a hangover and your van is stripped.

I think i get gassed often.
Never had the van stripped but it always looks like we´ve been burgled.

 

[Ksar-el-kebir]

That sounds alarming. What have been their symptoms, and how have they known they were gassed?




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You wake up with a feeling like a hangover and your van is stripped.

But on the other hand wouldn’t it be safer to stay indoors? I’ve long been in the habit of checking the vehicle over after every stop, stemming from when I used to do Northern Ireland at the time of the troubles. A bit inconvenient especially in inclement weather but worthwhile.

I think i get gassed often.
Never had the van stripped but it always looks like we´ve been burgled.

Yesterday a friend was targeted by some bandits, This was on the A7 south of Alicante near ELX/ELCHE. They drive across the front to block you in then the driver gets out with a map in his hand and asks for directions in English. It seems to be 2 men in a black car. The other couple were both in the motorhome and they still got her handbag,so be extra careful anyone travelling that way

I

Yesterday a friend was targeted by some bandits, This was on the A7 south of Alicante near ELX/ELCHE. They drive across the front to block you in then the driver gets out with a map in his hand and asks for directions in English. It seems to be 2 men in a black car. The other couple were both in the motorhome and they still got her handbag,so be extra careful anyone travelling that way

I wouldn’t use the A7 but the N340. It’s free and more interesting!

 

[Amarillo]

You wake up with a feeling like a hangover and your van is stripped.

The Royal College of Anaesthetists
=====
QUOTE
=====
Despite the increasing numbers of reports of people being gassed in motor-homes or commercial trucks in France, and the warning put out by the Foreign Office for travellers to be aware of this danger, this College remains of the view that this is a myth.

It is the view of the College that it would not be possible to render someone unconscious by blowing ether, chloroform or any of the currently used volatile anaesthetic agents, through the window of a motor-home without their knowledge, even if they were sleeping at the time. Ether is an extremely pungent agent and a relatively weak anaesthetic by modern standards and has a very irritant affect on the air passages, causing coughing and sometimes vomiting. It takes some time to reach unconsciousness, even if given by direct application to the face on a cloth, and the concentration needed by some sort of spray administered directly into a room would be enormous. The smell hangs around for days and would be obvious to anyone the next day. Even the more powerful modern volatile agents would need to be delivered in tankerloads of carrier gas by a large compressor. Potential agents, such as the one used by the Russians in the Moscow siege are few in number and difficult to obtain. Moreover, these drugs would be too expensive for the average thief to use.

The other important point to remember is that general anaesthetics are potentially very dangerous, which is why they are only administered in the UK by doctors who have undergone many years of postgraduate training in the subject and who remain with the unconscious patient throughout the anaesthetic. Unsupervised patients are likely to die from obstruction of the airway by their tongues falling back. In the Moscow seige approximately 20% of the people died, many probably from airway obstruction directly related to the agent used.

If there was a totally safe, odourless, potent, cheap anaesthetic agent available to thieves for this purpose it is likely the medical profession would know about it and be investigating its use in anaesthetic practice.
14 July 2014


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[Pink Banana]

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/...ls-of-france-motorhome-burglary-36221975.html

They deserved it taking £17,000 worth of Jewellry on holiday

 

[Loz]

Thanks for reposting this thorough debunking of yet another

They deserved it taking £17,000 worth of Jewellry on holiday

read.. insurance scam...

 

[Duncan]

Thanks for reposting this thorough debunking of yet another

read.. insurance scam...

Where does it say that?