“Coastal Strip Ghettos of urbanisations?”

What are you on about?

Marcosll - 10 March 2008 02:54 PM

“Coastal Strip Ghettos of urbanisations?”

What are you on about?

I mean repeated collections of huge, densely-packed housing estates, constructed under the Ley de los Urbanisiones laws, inhabited almost exclusively by Ex-Pats from Northern Europe (notably Britain, Germany and Norway), that have been jerry-built all along the coastlines of the southern Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol over the past 15 years.

Examples include those around Torrevieja, Gran Alicant, La Marina, Guardamar, etc etc etc.

They are constructed upon, and blight, the previously natural coastal strip; and they have largely become non-Spanish ghettos, where Spanish is not spoken, Spanish culture has largely been replaced by British culture and behaviour; and petty crime, litter, graffitti, and burglary and vehicle theft is now prevalent.

We’ll I’ve lived on the Costa del Sol for 13 years and you’re definately not describing this.

I haven’t been to the Costa Blanca but if that’s what it’s like there then those are more reasons why the Costa del Sol is a better place to live.

Crime has gone up pretty much everywhere I’ve lived or heard of with the exception of Miami and New York. They’re much safer now than in the late 80’s early 90’s. Though the crime rate there today is still many many times greater than Spain’s.

Just out of curiousity where did you live before Costa de la Luz?

Can I just say, for the record, and to put some peoples minds at ease, the ability to “gas” people in their villas is so impossible that its hillarious reading some of the comments by people.
I know many people will say they know someone who knows someone, but it just cant happen.

Hmm, I’m coming out to live in the Elche area, nr Alicante in September (I’m a GCSE English Teacher - have a job nearby).  On my previous travels around the South I must say I was always impressed by the apparent LACK of any serious threat on the streets…  But then I’m an inner-city Northern boy born and bred!

If the OP is still using this site then their question was not comparing Spain with Uk which many of you have commented upon, but was asking if there had been any increase due to immigrant gangs especially in the Alicante region. I don’t know if 20,000 is a small town or not, but YES many people want to live in them !! The one I lived in had an area full of mostly Brit houses outside of the main town and all had been broken into, whilst those foreigners who lived amongst the locals had no worse problems because of our nationality. The local police targetted North Africans for stop and search because they were said to be behind most of the mobile phone thefts etc. This was because they were NOT busy working due to being illegal immigrants hanging around the town all day staring at women and making themselves very unpopular because they would not try to integrate [Not a racist comment but merely what all the locals we knew were saying as well as our own observations. In a smallish town it is easier to know what is going on.]

I live in the Puerto banus area and is true Crime has gone very high i have been here for a year coming from Miami. Now it is very unfair to compare the costa del sol to Miami or New York: Miami-Dade County or metro area has near 4 million people and New York city has about 8 million counting the tri state metro area is amount 18 million we are talking about real cities here not towns like Marbella or any in costa del sol. The difference that i see in comparison with Miami is that spanish police are very laid back and don’t have the resources that miami-dade police or NYPD have in solving crimes. I have seen allot more house breaking here that i have seen all my life the same with pick pocketing and carjackings . I think those type of crimes are just going to continue to grow while Spanish economy is going to the toilet and there is more unemployment . I could probably agree that Miami has more violent crime than the costa del sol but in overall crime i am seeing here more every day.