In Spain there is a professional thief of alcohol and Iberian ham who continues to steal after being denounced 70 times in two years and does not appear at 40 trials for theft. This has been said by the Competitiveness, Trade and Consumer Commission of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) in a report to which this newspaper has had access to the impunity in Spain of shoplifting in supermarkets.

According to the report, "it is a paradigmatic example that in Spain the multi-recidivist theft is not pursued . " The employer does not provide the name of this professional thief, but says he continues to steal with impunity despite the fact that fines and restraining orders have been issued against him.

According to this commission, the establishments victims of the theft denounce it, police procedures are activated, but "without real consequences".

The report collects data from the Criminal Balance of the Ministry of Interior, that in Spain more than 700,000 complaints are filed for theft per year that do not serve to curb this practice.

Regarding the emblematic thief, he says that "he has been denounced 70 times in two years, the value of the stolen products exceeds 5,000 euros, more than 40 trials have been held against him that he has not attended and in which he is has sentenced fines for more than 10,000 euros and more than a dozen restraining orders and continues to steal. "

In the employer's office they point out that it is not only a cost for commercial establishments, but for the public administrations themselves that process complaints and legal proceedings without consequences.

This CEOE complaint coincides with appeals from the Prosecutor's Office. The chief prosecutor of Barcelona, Concepción Talón , publicly defended last July that the persecution of multi-recidivism in minor thefts requires a legislative reform that allows this practice to be punished more harshly. "

According to the prosecutor, currently they can only be punished with fines that cannot be accumulated as they are theft of a minor nature. In the State Attorney General's office they support this position, although this claim was left out of the institution's last report.

The aforementioned Competitiveness commission was created last April by the CEO of CEOE, Antonio Garamendi , to promote the importance of the shopping centers, department stores, supermarkets and small businesses sector in the Spanish economy.

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