They'd steal the shirt of your back

As if the local farmers don't have enough problems with the low prices they get for their produce at market, the lack of water and the plagues of rabbits, they now have to contend with thieves stealing their machinery.

The agriculturists in the campo at Guardamar del Segura have suffered a wave of thefts - 30 in the last two months. Although the main targets have been the cultivators or mechanical mules as they are called, the thieves have taken anything that can be sold on - pedal cycles, motorbikes, toolboxes, solar panels and batteries etc. Added to which they have caused untold damage to fences, doors and windows. Six houses were targeted last Friday presumably by the same gang.

Quite how these thieves steal the cultivators is a mystery because they are very heavy. You'd need a crane or at least a gang of strong men to lift one and a large vehicle to carry it away.

The only solace is that none of the farmers has been injured during the raids.