Police forces in Mallorca are reporting a recent increase in the number of robberies, many of these amateurish. The means used to commit break-ins suggest that the pandemic crisis is either changing robbery "modus operandi" or that there are people turning to crime.
In Palma in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the National Police arrested three people whose methods were crude. In Son Armadans, a patrol observed a man throwing a paving stone against the glass door of a shop. A woman who was with him dropped a stone when she saw the officers approaching.
Earlier, a 40-year-old male was arrested after smashing the window of a herbalist's with a manhole cover.
The National Police say that in recent months there has been a notable increase in the number of alarm systems being fitted at homes on the island. Fear of burglary is one reason, squatters are another, especially in remote areas of urban centres.