By Yzabelle Bostyn and Tom Ewart Smith in Malaga
MALAGA locals have blamed tourism and immigration for the brutal homicide of an American priest.
The physique of Father Richard Gross, 80, was present in a vacation residence on January 20 after neighbours alerted the police to ‘agonising screams’ that ‘appeared like somebody being killed’.
Gross was staying within the backside flat of a Holidays2Malaga property at 4 Calle de Viento, the Olive Press can reveal.
Locals are blaming ‘mass tourism’ and immigration for the tragedy, claiming criminals are being more and more drawn to town to ‘take benefit’ of ‘susceptible vacationers’ staying within the space.
“I believe tourism is guilty, 20 years in the past when it was all locals residing right here, you’d test for those who heard screams however nowadays folks simply assume its holidaymakers coming back from the bars,” mentioned a 44-year-old bricklayer whose total household lives within the neighbourhood.
“Vacationers additionally take much less care with their belongings and don’t report after they’ve been robbed which attracts extra criminals.
“I’m scared, we’d like extra cameras, extra police. However the authorities received’t say something as a result of it would scare off vacationers.”
The entire locals consulted by the Olive Press believed the crime was a theft gone unsuitable carried out by ‘Moroccan’ immigrants.
Franco, who owns close by Bar Mariscal, mentioned: “My TV was taken a number of weeks in the past and the police did nothing. There are much more immigrants right here who don’t have every other strategy to earn a living. Violent robberies are additionally turning into extra widespread. It’s not protected, many people can’t sleep, we’re on the mercy of God.
“There are robbers focusing on vacationers as a result of they’re susceptible and received’t go to the police. They wait till the bars shut after which they strike.”
The 38-year-old claimed ‘all of Malaga’ is similar, with areas exterior the historic centre turning into ‘more and more harmful’ attributable to a scarcity of police presence and safety cameras.
He added: “When you cross Calle Carreteria (the road which separates the previous city from the remainder of Malaga), there’s no surveillance.”
Irene, a cleaner on the neighbouring Simba Flats agrees: “There are a whole lot of robberies. They benefit from folks on vacation, they arrive right here to hunt.
“They robbed a home down the road and used a wheelbarrow to cart out their loot…they’re brazen, shameless.”
Whereas strolling across the La Goleta neighbourhood, the anti-tourism sentiment was palpable, with the phrase ‘guiris go house’ emblazoned throughout doorways and partitions.
In the meantime, cooking instructor at Luz y Tierra Laura Aguilar disagreed: “I’ve lived right here for eight years and I’ve by no means had any issues.
“However it’s true that there are a whole lot of vacationers and immigrants on this space, and meaning you don’t know anybody. Anybody may very well be a suspect.”
Nevertheless her father, Pedro Pastor, 94, added: “It’s dangerous right here, in Madrid and Barcelona. When you stroll down the road within the capital, it’s all foreigners. Immigrants benefit from that.”
