Coast del Crime: The Spanish criminals on the run who flee to Britain

Spain has long been infamous as a magnet for British villains to hide out from justice as they enjoy the sunshine on the costas – while keeping one look over their shoulders. Detectives have noted a rising number of Spanish criminals who are hiding out in the UK, according to the head of the Spanish National Police unit, which captures Spanish and Latin American fugitives abroad. “The scale of Spanish criminals coming to Britain to hide is nothing like that of British fugitives in Spain, but it is growing and it is a tendency that we have noticed,” the Spanish officer told The Independent. In comparison, last year the Spanish police were asked to find 980 foreign criminals who had fled to Spain to escape justice, a much lower figure than in most average years. “We will continue to work closely with our partners in Spain and the UK to ensure nowhere is a safe haven for criminals on the run.” Today Spain is a far cry from the 1970s when British criminals believed that they could retire to Spain out of the reach of the long arm of the law – leading to the nickname Costa del Crime – because there was no extradition treaty between the UK and Spain until 1985.