Joshua Parfitt
ROBBERS smashed a black people-carrier into the front window of a Vodafone shop in Xativa before stealing handsets and burning the car in a nearby patch of abandoned land last Sunday.
The calculated heist took place at two in the morning before neighbours called Policia Local to reports of a break-in.
The thieves appeared to target ‘something’ in particular, as they left many high-value handsets ‘untouched’ and a TV was left hanging from the wall.
Vodafone staff said the car had smashed through a metal security door and the glass frontispiece.
“It seems they were looking for something in particular, as they did more damage than anything else,” one worker said.
“At this time of year, after the Christmas campaign, we usually have far fewer products in stock.”
A robbery where a car is used to either smash into a highstreet shop, or as a midnight getaway vehicle later burnt, is known as an aluzinaje or ‘moon landing’ in Spanish.
The method is increasingly common in Spain’s Valencia region, where a central Apple shop received the same treatment under two weeks ago in early January.
The only difference in Valencia city being the thieves battered the door in with sledgehammers, before escaping in a stolen car that was later burnt.
Recently in the Valencian town of Alzira another moon landing break-in occurred at 4 in the morning, in similar circumstances.
