Is this the end of the honeymoon?

When I first visited Mallorca the island and the way of life here reminded me of my childhood in the UK in the 70s.

The supermarkets had half day closing, children played out on the streets, there was a feeling of innocence and gentleness about the place.

When I moved to Mallorca it irritated me that the supermarkets closed when I wanted to go, and I wasn’t so charmed by the fact that children played on the streets that I was trying to drive down.

But soon I found myself fitting into the pace of the island rather than forcing the island to move at mine. And something unthinkable happened, something that would never ever have happened back in the UK: I left my front door unlocked. It became a bit of a symbol to me that our door was always open.

Yes we live in a quiet little village where nothing really happens, so it’s not the same as leaving my front door ajar in Walthamstow for example, but it was still a big step for me.

But I won’t be doing that anymore. In the past couple of weeks there has been a spate of serious burglaries in the South West which has left me wondering about how safe we really are.

Santa Ponsa, El Toro, Puigpunyent, Palma Nova, Calvia, they have all been hit by a series of shocking incidents. It’s heartbreaking to hear about crime in our residential areas, targeting and unsettling us.

Please keep an eye open for strangers around your neighbour’s house, and ask them to do the same for you.

A friend of mine asked a man if he was lost when she found him at the fence at the bottom of her garden: he quite literally scarpered.

Other people I know have had burglar and security cameras and alarms fitted to reduce the risk of being robbed or broken into.

I have heard mixed reports about how seriously the local police have been taking the incidences, initially they were slow to respond and take fingerprints, but now as the frequency has increased so has their attention to the problem.

If you need to call the police urgently then don’t forget that you dial 112.

Alternatively now may be the time to get that dog you’ve been thinking about.

There are plenty of loyal pooches out there waiting for a new home, get in touch with your local animal refuge (if you don’t know where or who they are then get in touch with me and I can point you in the right direction).

It makes me feel very sad that we are now the potential victims of crime here, after such a long honeymoon.

We’re like those holiday makers I wrote about a couple of weeks ago in that ‘we’re in Mallorca, nothing bad can happen to us here’ trance.

Well time to wake up people as some of us have had very scary awakenings, and in my case, time to start locking the door and check that the contents insurance is up to date.

www.familymattersmallorca.com

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