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Farmyard Felons
Two Spaniards aged 25 and 30 have been arrested by the Guardia Civil's rural crime unit, based in Torrevieja, on charges of stealing from farms in the Vega Baja area. The men were detained in AlmoradĂ and in the Oriheula area village of San BartolomĂŠ and are accused of nine counts or robbery,
including using a stolen vehicle to take away a dozen small pigs, plus agricultural machinery and copper wire worth around seven and a half thousand euro. The car was so full in that particular incident, that they merely dumped what they had stolen from another farm, and put the new items in it.
Potential robbery targets were monitored for a period of time, and then the thieves would strike at night, breaking down fences and gates, and removing padlocks and any other security devices. One man was let out on bail, whilst the other man has been placed into custody following his court appearance.
Not Good Enough
Half of Spain's towns and villages do not have a single bank branch or cashpoint, according to a report by the Independent Force Employment Federation (FINE), the largest financial services union in Spain. FINE says the reduction in banking employees and branch closures 'cannot be justified or explained' by the rise in internet banking over the last decade, since it is not widespread enough to account for so many shut-
downs and redundancies, the report claims. As a result of these branch closures, fifty percent of municipalities in Spain, namely small villages and in rural areas, have no banking services whatsoever, not even a cashpoint machine, claims the FINE union. Card payments are still not widely enough accepted for customers to live cashfree – although the centrist Ciudadanos political party
wants to make it compulsory for all businesses to accept card payments for goods and services of 10 euro or more. Many banks still require customers to visit in person to carry out certain transactions, rather than allowing them to do so online. And in some of the more remote parts of Spain, internet access is not even available as it is not economically viable for telecoms companies.