Joshua Parfitt
BENIDORM town hall has hit out against alleged ‘fake news’ spread by British tabloids.
The Sun, the Mirror, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star all reported that Benidorm ‘gangs’ were spiking Brit’s drinks and robbing them as they passed out.
The ‘false’ alert was started after reports of a tourist awoke on a Benidorm beach having lost his trainers, phone and wallet after being targeted in a bar.
Town hall sources said there was ‘no evidence’ of such crimes being committed, according to El Mundo.
A spokesperson for Benidorm’s British Business Association said: “As in the UK, there will be unstable individuals that spike peoples drinks but this is most certainly not the norm here.
The spokesperson added that ‘dubious individuals’ do exist but discounted the organised nature of the crimes.
“Alcohol is much cheaper here than the UK and many get carried away until they are totally intoxicated then fall prey to pickpockets.”
The news is reminiscent of a Daily Star front page splash reading ‘JAWS ATTACK OFF BENIDORM’.
The story actually referred to a bite from an ‘unidentified’ fish, probably a barracuda, according to El Mundo.
More recently, the British Foreign Office denied issuing a warning of an increased terror threat in Spain.
But a Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesperson told the Olive Press the ‘false’ warning came from another Daily Star article.
The news stemmed from Spain’s ‘Operacion Verano’ in which 40,000 troops are deployed annually for the summer season, which has happened for years, and is not abnormal.
