San Isidro in Nijar is in the grip of a crime wave, with an average of four break-ins a day being reported to police over the last month.
Mayor Esperanza Pérez said: “I have convened a security meeting for next week with local authorities to discuss the matter. Recently Níjar municipality has been hit with a crime wave which obviously has made local residents nervous. I have requested additional Guardia Civil patrols for the area [..] this is a matter of urgency for the council”.
Local residents have mobilised and will march through Níjar centre next Thursday evening to demand more police resources, finishing at the city council offices.
All manner of targets are being broken into, with authorities saying there seems to be no pattern to the robberies. Shops, homes, green-houses and vehicles have all been targeted by thieves in recent weeks.
San Isidro is a village of 7,000 people in the municipality of Níjar. Surrounded by green-houses and farmlands, it is a difficult area to police.
Local farmworkers are understood to have taken to parking their cars in visible areas in order to prevent thefts from them.