We've all joked about it at one time in our lives, when money's tight and food starts becoming a luxury we can't afford, especially in this recession, robbing a bank becomes the family joke. If we don't laugh about it, we'll cry. I've often played out scenarios in my mind about being fabulously wealthy, opening up a beach bar in Hawaii and living the good life. Well it seems the family joke is become a reality.
Spain's banking association has reported a 20 per cent increase in the number of robberies carried out at high street branches in the last two years. With Spain suffering the highest level of unemployment in Europe and banks denying credit, the trend is towards first time offenders attempting heists usually reserved for hardened criminals.
Among those recently apprehended is a building contractor who allegedly held up four banks around Barcelona stealing 80,000 euros before he was caught attempting his fifth heist. The 52 year-old man, identified as Ausencio CG, told police he used the money to pay his creditors and employees and fund his daughter's studies when his business started to fail with the collapse of Spain's decade long construction boom last year.
I laughed when I first read this because it seemed too unreal, people robbing banks to survive through the recession but this is no laughing matter. How desperate do you have to be to do this? The fear of imprisonment alone is enough to stop anyone but clearly when the world turns it's back on you, you turn your back on the world. It's a scary thought and would the punishment fit the crime? A man trying to keep his family alive gets punished for resorting to crime when there are no other options? It's a catch 22 and I don't see it ending any time soon.
