Concern among residents after recent spate of burglaries in Axarquía town

A spate of burglaries in the Parque Victoria area to the north of Rincón de la Victoria in Malaga province has left residents concerned about further incidents and safety in the area.

Luis, who prefers not to give his surname, arrived home with his wife and sleeping baby after spending the afternoon at a birthday party at around 8.30pm last Saturday 9 December. He noticed that the terrace window had been broken at around 8.22pm and motion sensors in his home detected a presence at 8.37pm when the family was already inside the property. The home surveillance systems recorded what happened accurately, although he regrets that he did not switch on the camera before leaving the house.

He is one of seven victims of a spate of burglaries reported in the Colinas de Procusan residential area in Parque Victoria, to the north of Rincón de la Victoria.

"When I walked through the door I noticed that there were things on the floor, I thought it was our Roomba robot vacuum cleaner that had dropped something, but no, it was thieves," he explained after the incident.

"There are probably more of us affected, there are people who, perhaps, have not noticed, not having returned home after the long weekend or having had days off", commented one resident. The local police are investigating the incidents and a greater presence of uniformed officers has been detected in Parque Victoria area since the thefts were reported.

David Gómez and his partner have also been burgled and their story is similar to that of Luis. The time frame of the event is similar and the items stolen are similar: cash, a computer and valuables that can be easily transported.

Like Luis, David went out on Saturday afternoon and when he returned at around 9pm he saw that he had been burgled. "I had planned to install a surveillance camera to monitor the terrace, but it was still in the drawer. We thought we didn't need it, but it turns out it was necessary", explained Gómez.

He went on to say that his partner's daughter left the house minutes before the thieves arrived, so she could have crossed paths with them. "It could have been worse", he says.

Both Luis and David have said that the thieves used the same method: forcing the security locks very quickly, entering the houses and leaving again within a few minutes. All of the homes that have been burgled in the area are ground floor properties, only a few metres above the gardens, so access is relatively easy by scaling the walls.

President of the residents' association, Jorge Díaz, says that as a result of what has happened they are going to ask the town hall for a video surveillance system. Although it is a built up area, it is further away from the town centre, very close to wooded areas and open spaces and near to the motorway, making it easy for thieves to make a quick getaway, especially on a Saturday when there is usually less traffic.

Another resident commented there is a need for more maintenance and improvements such as more street lighting, which is causing safety issues, in her opinion.