Personal safety

Checkout the area on the map below, top of hill between Torrevieja and La Mata. Quiet, modern, well served by 3 bus routes, a short walk to the beach (hill not too steep coming back). The streets Calle Itaca and Calle Argonautas at the very crest of the hill have some fabulous villas

No matter where we travel today there is crime of some description. I live in Benidorm and since being here I have had my smartphone stolen and my partner their wallet during the daytime even though we take great care of personal.possessions. At night there are the 'hugger' thieves who embrace you and pretent to dance while another goes through your pockets. We no longer take phones, wallets or wear jewellery when going out for the night. I take a police style whistle with me. My partner smokes and on one occasion two young guys tried to remove their watch but my partner 'stabbed' the thieves hands with the lite cigeratte and they cleared off. I also blew my whistle loudly to attract attention. Just use common sense and be vigilant.

You may fund the contents of this link helpful:

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/in/Torrevieja

Hi 

Internet access is easy to get and fibre is pretty much the norm in residential areas. The biggest single supplier in the area is https://www.avatel.es/ 

Crime happens, just like anywhere else in the world, but violent crime is rare in my experience.

As for "quiet" - choose carefully, the Spanish people are very noisy by nature!

If you don't drive then you will probably want to find somewhere within the Torrevieja bus service routes https://costazul.net/lineas-urbanas/ 

Cheers

Steve

Thanks. I will definitely take a look at that area. 

Thanks. That sort of life is definitely not what I want. 

I'm actually Italian/Spanish so I get what you mean about the Spanish being a noisy race. :)

I think John has given a very exaggerated view of life in Benidorm. It's one of the safest cities in Spain and if you look at Benidorm on John's own recommended link you will see its far less crime ridden than Torrevieja and residents are less frightened to go out at night.

I've lived in Benidorm for 10 years, I'm 73 and my wife and I feel far safer going out at night than I ever did in parts of the UK and areas of Spain including Torrevieja. We've never been accosted, robbed or been "hugged"

Safety index: Torrevieja = 61.16

                    Benidorm = 69.65

O= poor

100= Good

Steve

Thanks Steve but it's actually Torrevieja that I'm considering moving to.  

I actually started off thinking I'd move to Denia or Xavier but as much of my profit goes to animal charities, I can't stomach the idea of the bull terrorisation that goes on in these areas in the name of entertainment. It's the bit about my heritage that repulses me. 

So I'm looking at maybe Torrevieja, Santa Pola or going further south to Mojacar. 

Unfortunately tebo53, my and my partner's experiences in Benidorm are not exagerrated but have occurred and we have copies of the police reports to substantiate these. You and I have both provided responses to several posts on this forum where visitors in particular have 'lost' their wallets and or mobile phones. Our responses to these have mostly agreed the phones and wallets were more than likely stolen. As I said in my original response being vigilant and keeping a close 'eye' on personal possessions is important. This, of course, does not only apply to Benidorm or Spain but where ever we may travel in the world. For example, my partner and I have also been the victims of a mugging in Honolulu many years ago but this didn't deter us from returning - we have been there on 12 occasions. I love Benidorm and to be quite honest having travelled the world it is one of the best places to spend our twilight years. Perhaps the crime figures may be a little higher in Benidorm if all incidents were reported to the police. I am confident that quite a number of those lost wallets and mobile phones never quite make it to the police station. 

Have a great weekend.