Hi all, driving in Spain with french reg car… Well, , we were driving on AP7 towards Tarragona when we were flashed by car behind, so we pulled over, the driver pulled in, in front said that he saw some pieces fall off the wheel section of our car, so we both got out and he showed us the area he thought it came from, he kept us busy at the back of the car… meanwhile un beknown to us, his companion opened the driver side back door, and removed my handbag and OH briefcase which were under a coat on the back seat. we had no idea this had happened, it was only when we stopped for a break, that my OH mobile came into life, a call from an unknown gent in Paris, saying he had been ctcd by a friend , to say that she had found a hand bag, took it home and opened it to see if there was any phone/address/ etc so as to call the bags owner to say she had found it…
At the time of the call from Paris we were near Denia. then Parisian gent spoke french, his friend only spoke Spanish hence why the gent in Paris spoke to us in , the docs that were in my bag were Carte Vitale,D/licence/ health cards/credit cards, CDSejour, Chq book, ukdebit cards etc etc, plus a lot of useful handbag gear. Anyway, no mention of OH brief case, in that we had Mac Lap top, Ipad,Iphone, camera, diary (which had all sorts of passwords/tel numbers and appointments) So we spoke to gent and he sent us on OH iphone the tel number, name address.We rang and said we would phone when we
arrived at hotel, my spanish is passable but not to the extent of being able to copmpletely understand
what she was describing to me!!!so we agreed we will return to pick up my bag from her home after we had reported to it to the police the following day.
Next report the theft, we eventually found the police station, they escorted us to the Guradia Civile, why , in OH brief case were our passports, which according to the local police had to be dealt with by the Guardia, we followed them to the Guardia, I was definently not too sure how we were going to get on here, having heard that the Guardia are not the easiest or helpful and not very popular with the
locals, nerves were a little on edge. NO need, they were very understanding and helpful, thank
goodness. SO duely completed forms in Spanish French and English were completed in duplicate…The
officer even offered to show us the way back to the hotel , which we declined…!! APPARENTLY THIS IS HAPPENING OFTEN, MODERN DAY HIGHWAY MEN!!!according to the Guardia.
Back to our return journey less than 12 hours after checking in to the hotel, we went via the Paris gents friend who found the bag, on the secondary road that runs parallel to the Motorway, in Segur de Calafell, where she lived there was myhand bag Passports,were removed from the brief case and placed in the bag by the Highway men, credit cards, CDsejour,C vitale D/licence and other bits of stuff, the only things missing were my rather expensive prescription sun glasses, iphone, and all the Euros we had taken out the bank the day before. BUT no sign OH brief case, trying to remember what work you had done on the laptop etc bank details etc, plus if we did not have my papers, we worried, imagine trying to get back into France if the police decided to stop us, we had our returned P/ports and I had my all my cards most importantly CDS,CVitale,and D/licence.
That was a trip that went wrong, not through any fault of us, but we were safe, just our nerves and morale are feeling shocked, There are good samaritans out there, both of which we are truly grateful…
The thought of trying to get duplicate CV,CDsejour/Dlicence, is not worth thinking about…
A lesson we will not be repeating —
DRIVING A CAR, WITH FRENCH PLATES, ON A RELATIVELY QUIET SUNDAY ON THE AP7, WITH SOME CAR IN THE REAR VIEW WINDOW, FLASHING HIS LIGHTS, PULLS IN FRONT, BEWARE, LOCK ALL YOUR DOORS IF YOU GET OUT TO SEE WHAT HE IS TRYING TO SAY, DON’T BE FOOLED BY HIS STORY OF SOMETHING FALLING FROM THE CAR…
Home at last, stiff G&T