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If you take a stroll along Torrevieja’s promenade or sit down to enjoy a quiet café con leche on the seafront, chances are that sooner rather than later you’ll be offered a wide variety of goods from gentlemen of African decent. The main objects of desire; sunglasses and watches but also on offer are such goodies as perfumes, handbags, gold, jewellery and the ubiquitous DVD copy! The prices are ridiculously inexpensive and you get what you pay for, inferior goods that are more likely than not; fakes.

Even though these ‘looky-looky’ men are only trying to make a living, never seem to be too pushy or there to rob you through pick pocketing, what they are doing is illegal and Torrevieja Town Hall regularly confiscates the goods being sold, takes down a few names of the sellers and sends them on their way. 

It’s a game that is played on Torrevieja’s seafront every day; unbelievable deals on watches, sunglasses, jewellery and other ‘luxury’ items are up for grabs at knock down prices, while you are enjoying your coffee in your chosen cafe or while you stroll along Torrevieja’s promenade. Like a super hero, one moment they are selling their wares, but in the blink of an eye they can be gone!

It’s a case of buyer beware because if your purchase does not work or function, the chances of you being able to return it anytime in the foreseeable future are pretty slim!  The main objects of desire; sunglasses and watches but also on offer are such delectable items  as perfumes, handbags, gold, jewellery, toys, branded polo shirts, wallets, purses and copies of the latest blockbuster on DVD, even before they have reached the stores!

Twice a year, Torrevieja’s Town Hall has a habitual crushing and destruction of the confiscated items. The first of such events for 2010 was held last week on Friday May 28 when the mayor of Torrevieja, Pedro Hernández Mateo, accompanied by the Director General of Local Police, Javier Minguez, the Principal Auditor Police, Vicente Gutierrez, and Mayor Alejandro Morera, visited Torrevieja’s Ecopark to witness the destruction of over 20,000 counterfeit items. Hernández Mateo reported that Local Police officers conducted the confiscation of these items in all areas of the city and that these seizures took place from late 2009 through May of this year.

Over the last five years Torrevieja has destroyed over a quarter of a million fake and counterfeit articles seized from mainly Eastern European, North African and Asian sellers throughout the city. Local Police has also been successful in busting up illegal pirate DVD and CD duplication syndicates, all of which with have ended up on the rubbish heap having undergone a similar method of destruction prior to dumping.

On this occasion a total of 21,697 items were destroyed in the presence of the Mayor, members of the press, local police and councillors. These included 3,185 pairs of sunglasses, more than 7,000 counterfeit CDs, 9,835 Pirate Movie DVD’s, 689 counterfeit branded watches, 419 fake handbags, 124 purses, 50 counterfeit belts, 209 items of clothing, 161 caps and 25 pairs of counterfeit shoes. Mateo Hernandez highlighted the excellent work being done by agents of Torrevieja’s Local Police to eradicate illegal street trading and stated that the issue was an ongoing problem and that as soon as they removed sellers and counterfeit goods from the streets that others would return in their place. However, with new CCTV cameras being installed around the city, this will further help local police officers with their task of removing the problem on a more permanent level.

News story by Keith Nicol mcij (Tel: (+34) 609 06 36 14)

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