Town councils strengthen vigilance to prevent theft of olives

2023-11-15 01:25:34

Different town councils in the Camp de Tarragona have strengthened vigilance in the countryside to prevent theft from farmers during the olive harvest, which is taking place these weeks. In a campaign marked by the increase in the price of olive oil in recent months, olives have become a precious fruit that has attracted the interest of thieves. Constantí is one of the municipalities that has extended the hours of its rural guard. Until now it worked during the season of hazelnuts and carobs, but this year it will operate until mid-December. Always in coordination with the local police of the town, the Mossos d’Esquadra and the farmers, who are generally the ones who give the alert.

Pere Guinovart, territorial coordinator of the Union of Farmers in Camp de Tarragona, explains that the thefts of recent years during the carob harvest this season are being concentrated in the olive fields. The areas most affected today are Montbrió and Mont-roig del Camp (Baix Camp), and with slightly less incidence Tarragonès municipalities such as Constantí, Vila-seca or Vilallonga del Camp.

For five years there has been coordination between councils, police and farmers, and during this time the system has been perfected. “It’s about the operatives being connected. Sometimes what’s stolen can be in Morell and after a moment be in Baix Camp,” he explains. One of the strategies they are doing is sharing the license plate number of the thieves’ vans so that when a farmer warns of the presence of a suspicious vehicle, they can quickly prevent a theft.

For the farmers the situation is delicate. First because they steal their harvest, which is the work of the whole year. But then because when they find a thief they can suffer assaults. “We have had to tell them not to act, even if they find them inside their lands taking their fruit, and this makes us suffer because if they act they may have problems”, acknowledges Guinovart. For all this, and despite acknowledging that the devices “have taken effect”, the union leader demands “increase the cash”.

More presence in Constantí

With a municipal area of ​​around 30 square kilometers, keeping an eye on all of Constantí is not easy and they have noticed an increase in thefts in the countryside. In fifteen days of harvesting olives they have had nine, of which in five cases they have been able to catch the thieves in pieces thanks to the coordination between farmers, rural guards and local police. “We have reinforced the surveillance service in the countryside, the farmers asked us for it. We have extended the number of hours of the rural guard that we already had for the hazelnut and carob campaign,” comments Alfonso Riscos, councilor for Security and Civil Protection of the town

The rural guard points out that “from the first second” he starts the service he is in contact with the rest of those involved. “Collaboration with farmers is fundamental to my work. If someone calls me because there is a car they don’t recognize or they see people picking fruit, we contact the local police and start the action,” he explains the watchman

He says vehicle chases between fields aren’t uncommon, but he’s confident they’re usually caught. “They know some roads, but we know the territory well and since we work together, we can wait for them in certain places and surprise them”, he narrates. In addition, he assures that their presence is a deterrent: “they see us and change course”. However, he states that generally the thieves are from surrounding towns and that they change from one year to the next.