Costa Blanca
Benidorm Mayor says, again, the resort is the safest destination in the world
By m.p.
Feb 24, 2008 - 7:59 PM

A report which the EFE news agency says is to be broadcast at prime time on ITV this Monday has led the Mayor of Benidorm to accuse the British TV channel of ‘hidden interests’ in trying to ‘damage the city’s image.’

The programme, EFE says, reports on crime levels in Benidorm and the robberies suffered by British tourists, amongst them the death of a Scottish man who died after he was mugged in Benidorm town centre last December. It speaks of organised criminal gangs from Eastern Europe who target properties outside the town centre and, in the view of the Mayor, Manuel Pérez Fenoll, aims to ‘divert British tourists to other destinations which are in competition’ with Spain. He alleges that the information in the ITV report is ‘based on lies and malicious rumours,’ and that no-one is afraid to be out in the streets at ‘any hour of the early morning.’

Pérez Fenoll says the reality is that Benidorm is the ‘safest tourist destination in the world,’ a statement he also made in December and which led British residents in the area to start a petition against his claim and to call for measures to stop violent robberies. The Mayor has said, however, that he will hold a meeting with police in the coming days to discuss the situation and to take any measures which may be needed in the face of the insecurity felt by the foreign community.

The news agency quotes information from central government offices in Alicante that violent burglaries in Benidorm have dropped by 50% in recent years, and crime as a whole by 30%.