Businessman offers big reward in effort to find thieves who stole cash from his Costa del Sol bakery

A reward of 6,000 euros is being offered to anyone with information that might help locate the thieves who broke into Pastelería Ruiz in Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol late on Saturday 11 January.

José Ruiz, who owns Panaderías Pastelerías Ruiz, a long-established bakery in the town, explained to SUR on Monday that the burglary took place at around 11.30pm on Saturday night. This was confirmed by the recordings of the security cameras, to which SUR has had access, and which Ruiz has shared with his contacts so that they in turn can post the footage on social media.

"The cameras have recorded everything, but they were wearing caps, balaclavas, gloves and they cannot be identified, their faces cannot be seen at any time, but perhaps someone might recognise them from their bodies," said Ruiz, who explained that the two thieves, probably young men, stole around 30,000 euros from the premises along with a money counting machine and a bag of tools. The money was in a safe which they broke into.

The men damaged several doors and metal locks so that they could gain access to the offices located next to the industrial building where the bread and cakes that the company distributes to its different points of sale in Nerja.

"We have reported it to the Guardia Civil and we trust and hope that they will find them, but I also wanted to ask for the cooperation of the public by disseminating these images, and offering a reward of 6,000 euros to anyone who helps me catch them," Ruiz explained.

This was not the only burglary to take place in Nerja over the weekend. Cafeteria Hermes, located on Plaza de España, was also broken into between Friday night and Saturday morning. In that case it was also a young man, using a small pickaxe, who managed to gain access to the café after breaking the door and windows.

The manager, Antonio, explained to SUR that the only thing stolen was the cash register with the change, which he later found lying near the café's terrace Apparently thieves also broke into several other businesses located in various streets in Nerja the same night.