Dedicated service for tourists in Orihuela

TOURISTS in Orihuela are to get a dedicated service to help victims of crime. The town will have its own SATE office (Foreign Tourist Service).

Antonio Zapata, who is standing in for Mayor Monserrate Guillen, currently recovering from a heart attack, signed an agreement with the Secretary of State for Security, Francisco Martinez, in Alicante along with the municipalities of Alfaz del Pi, Finestrat and Javea, who are also to set up a SATE office.

The service provides personalised police attention for foreign victims of crime in their own language. It can assist in contacting embassies or consulates and cancelling credit cards. The service is to be staffed by either a police officer or employee of Orihuela’s tourist office.

The Costa Blanca’s first SATE opened in Benidorm last June and helped 1,280 people during the first six months. Of these, 837 were British tourists, the majority of whom had been robbed on the beach.

The new agreement for Orihuela and other Costa Blanca towns has been recognised due to the high number of foreign tourists they receive.

Orihuela has not yet confirmed where the SATE office will be located or when the facility is likely to open.