60% of the crimes suffered by foreign tourists on Ibiza are petty theft and 20% are loss of objects. These are the main data from last year’s Foreign Tourist Assistance Service (SATE), presented today at a press conference by the Commissioner of the Ibiza PolicÃa Nacional, Manuel Hernández, along with the Councillor for Trade and Tourism of the City Council of Ibiza, Dessiré Ruiz, at the Police Headquarters. This assistance service for foreign visitors is “absolutely essential” and the results “benefit” the whole society, said Ruiz.
In 2021, the SATE assisted 755 people, victims of some type of crime or infraction, and 245 complaints were filed. The service, which this season is now operational again, was active from July to September last year. The figures are much lower than in 2019, before the pandemic, when more than 1,200 people were assisted and the service received 845 complaints. “In that range [2019] we can also predict this year and it gives us an idea of the significance of the work of SATE”, stressed the commissioner.
“Incidences of gender violence are occurring in hotels or on the street, in couples visiting the island”
Increase in gender violence crimes
In 2021, robberies with force or violence accounted for about 7% of the complaints. However, Manuel Hernandez has shown his concern about the increase in cases of abuse. “Incidences of gender violence are occurring in hotels or in the street, in couples visiting the island,” remarked the commissioner.
The languages most used in the service are English, French and Italian. By nationalities, those who report the most are British tourists, followed by French and German.
The SATE offers a form to control the degree of satisfaction of the people who come to the police station to report a crime. In it, they are asked their opinion about the assistance received: the help and psychological support, the quality of the information, the waiting time and the usefulness of the service. 30% of people answer this form, and within these, 90% are satisfied with the service received.
With all these data, the SATE report is subsequently transferred to the City Council of Ibiza. “So we see how we can focus it for the following year and providethe same quality,” said the commissioner.
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