Neighbors of Marimunt become somatenes after suffering six robberies in 48 hours: “Patrols are missing”

The inhabitants of the Catalan town demand from the Minister of the Interior more Mossos supplies for night surveillance 30 vehicles patrol the roads of the game from 8:00 p.m. to 2 or 3 a.m. to deter thieves “Rural areas are more vulnerable to suffer these looting”, laments a neighbor Six looting of homes in 48 hours. It is the wave of robberies faced by the residents of the Marimunt de Lleida district, a small nucleus of inhabitants, who have decided to set up somatenes to deter thieves and deal with the lack of surveillance in rural areas. 30 residents of the agrarian municipality, located two kilometers from the center of the Catalan province, leave with their vehicles from 8:00 p.m. to 2 or 3 a.m. to patrol around the 100 houses that make up the town. A double protection of both homes and open-air fields.”After the wave of robberies on the bridge of Todos los Santos, we met last Sunday night and decided to start night surveillance. It is the first time that we do it”, explains Pere Roquer, one of the inhabitants who has already patrolled for seven days with his car. Each one does it from their own vehicle. Some park in the entrance area of ​​the game while others circulate through the different paths. “It is a feeling of impotence and at the same time of satisfaction for doing a job for our own good,” adds Pere about a dilemma that has so far managed to paralyze the robberies. Neighbors of the town during the night surveillance NIUS “As a result of this surveillance active, we have noticed an increase in police forces. However, to cover the 19,000 hectares on the outskirts of Lleida we need several patrols”. For this reason, they have demanded more resources from the Mossos from the Interior Minister. Despite complying with the dissuasive effect, they will continue to carry out the service on alternate days after the good reception of the inhabitants: “In the first meeting we started with about 20 people, but on Monday at night we met more than 80 neighbors in the cooperative and the movement of the 30 vehicles began, all with the phone numbers located to keep us informed of our steps”. Aging and the vulnerability of rural areasAccording to Pere, this type of actions, which help the Mossos and Guardia Urbana patrol, allows them to feel “at least” that the land “is not so lonely.” A wave of massive robberies that leaves a feeling of insecurity among a mostly older public. “The rural areas of Lleida and all of Spain are aging and are more vulnerable when it comes to looting,” recalls the resident of Marimunt de Lleida. In fact, the somatenes already appeared years ago in Alcarràs, a nearby town that also suffered from this problem. “The fact that young people return to the countryside is being more complicated than people think. that the agri-food sector, one of the backbones of the circular economy, manages to reincorporate young people into our sector”, says Pere. “If rural areas are left without inhabitants and without cultivated farms, it will be an uninhabited area that gives rise to this type of theft,” he laments.