With summer come the heat and the holidays with the usual transfer of trips, but also petty thefts in grocery stores and supermarkets. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, in 2022, 26.7% of all thefts in stores and supermarkets in Spain occurred during the third quarter of the year. In total 170,000 robberies, 24.7% more than the previous year, more than 20% of which were suffered by establishments in Catalonia.
In general, the summer months are those of sun and stifling heat, those of annoying mosquitoes, but also those of surrendering to enjoy the pleasures of life. Apparently also for thieves. The products that are most stolen during this time of year are those related to the greatest summer hits, such as sunscreen, condoms, alcoholic beverages, sun creams and ice cream.
Each Spanish region offers its own attractions and incentives to its visitors that, on occasions, end up being closely related to what the foreign friends have a greater tendency to strive for in each autonomous community. But it’s not always like this.
According to the data of a study carried out by Checkpoint Systems among 17,000 Spanish businesses (90% of the total, according to the authors of this work), perhaps no one finds it strange that the most stolen items in Andalusia from July to September are sunscreens and mosquito repellents – which is also the most desirable for thieves in Extremadura. Or that in Murcia it’s flip flops and that in Castilla-La Mancha the first place goes to the cheeses for which this region is famous. The same thing that happens in La Rioja with wines and spirits, which is what most leaves their stores without going through the checkout, exactly the same as what happens in Catalonia, where in second place are sausages and ice creams that disappear at the hands of criminals.
Even though condoms take the cake in the Canary Islands, preserves and cheeses in Galicia or ice cream in Madrid –one of the classics to alleviate the rigors of the heatwave–, it can be considered normal.
But more surprising is that, for example, in Asturias, which has excellent fish and shellfish, frozen hake is the most stolen, while in Aragon it is coffee capsules, in Valencia gardening items, in the Balearic Islands make-up products –and to a lesser extent meat products– in Navarra razors and in Cantabria sun creams.
Due to the persistent drought and the no less persistent inflation, oil is one of the foods whose price has risen the most in recent months… but equally everywhere. That is why it is beyond all logic that in the Basque Country, an area where olive trees are conspicuous by their absence, oils in general are the most desired by thieves.
Perhaps this discrepancy must be found in another piece of information that the study points out: “As indicated by a large part of those surveyed, while criminals previously acted to consume stolen products themselves, currently the trend indicates that they operate to later sell the stolen items and obtain financial benefits.
The cost of all this summer excess represents 0.9% of the sales registered during the summer period, which means approximate losses of 170 million euros in summer alone.
