For years Girona has become a mandatory stop for road cycling professionals, amateurs and fans from all over the world. After the lethargy caused by the pandemic, the fans and businesses dedicated to this vein of tourists have not stopped growing. In 2022 it was estimated that in the city alone there were around thirty stores linked to the sector and rising.
A recent study by the University of Girona (UdG), published a few months ago, pointed out a series of factors that have been key to this spectacular growth that has been experienced not only in Girona but also throughout the region: geography, climate benign that allows training all year round, the non-crowding and tranquility of the destination, the anonymity of top-level cyclists (historical cyclists such as Lance Armstrong, David Millar and Johnny Weltz have become ambassadors of the destination) and the connection with large cities such as Barcelona .
Lee Comerford, co-founder of Eat Sleep Cycle, which brings together several high-end bike catering, sales and rental businesses in the center of Girona, adds a sixth factor. “Here, in addition, they feel safe. In London, you leave a bike untied on the street and the second it's already been stolen from you, ”he says.
Since 2019, an average of two bikes have been stolen in Girona every three days. A fact that, according to the Mossos d'Esquadra, does not exceed that of other police regions. But his statistics point to an increase in high-end bike thefts.
Until June, a total of 152 bicycles had been stolen in the city, of which 24 were for amounts greater than 3,000 euros, according to police data. In percentage, they represent 16% of the total.
In 2022, when bicycle tourism had already recovered from the stoppage forced by the pandemic, there were twenty thefts of high-end bikes that were recorded throughout the year, data that represented 8% of the total.
Thus, in half a year more expensive bikes have been stolen than in all of last year. The feeling that some businessmen in the sector have is that now you have to be more careful than some time ago.
In two weeks, two central cafeterias linked to the cyclist tourist have suffered robberies and twice. In one of them, citizen collaboration was decisive in arresting the thief, a 43-year-old man with a history of theft.
The events occurred in a bar-restaurant on Perill street, when a foreign fan living in the city left his bike on a stand, outside the premises, without any fixing system. When he realized it, the thief was running away in a hurry on the stolen bike, valued at 5,500 euros. The pursuit of two cyclists who witnessed the theft was decisive so that the Mossos d'Esquadra could stop it at the height of Avenida Jaume I with the Barcelona highway.
Days before, in that same place, a former Canadian Olympic athlete had to end his vacation early when his bike, valued at about 10,000 euros, was stolen.
"Many customers from the United States, Canada or the United Arab Emirates feel safe, relax, trust and make the mistake of not tying up their bikes when they come here," says Josep Rubio, owner of Hors Catégorie, the restaurant-bar where the crimes were committed. Those two robberies.
“I opened five years ago and hadn't had any problems before; now in a week we have suffered two episodes ”, she affirms. His first measure has been to buy locks so that his clients can keep their bikes safe while they eat.
A few meters away, in the Eat Sleep Cycle brand businesses, the thefts witnessed in the last week also count in pairs. One of the bikes was in an outdoor bike tie-down device, untethered. The other, in a kind of indoor parking that the business makes available to customers. In the blink of an eye, the thieves made off with a loot of 6,000 euros in these expensive two-wheeled vehicles. No fighting or violence.
The advice that employees give to customers when they are about to rent is: "Keep the bike tied up and don't let it out of your sight," they explain from the high-end bike rental shop. “The professional cyclist, the one who has the bike as a work tool, is very attentive; but the one who comes here on vacation to practice his hobby is more relaxed ”, acknowledges Verònica Sánchez. On a couple of occasions, in addition, they have caught the robbers red-handed.
Despite these cases, Comerford is "calm" and does not believe that Girona is an unsafe destination for the group. Of course, he asks the City Council to make available to cyclists more devices to tie bikes in the city.
The Councilor for Security, Sílvia Aliu, explains that they will work to create more bike parking spaces and increase security at those points on public roads where the most thefts are concentrated.
Public roads are the main place for the theft of good bikes, according to data provided by the Mossos d'Esquadra. They are followed by the interior of homes and storage rooms. A mistake, to leave valuables in these rooms that are usually full of junk.
Regarding the profile of a thief, the agent of the Girona regional unit for proximity and attention to the citizen (Urpac), Marta Pla, speaks of two profiles: "The one who is looking for expensive bikes, and who probably already knows before committing the theft who will be the buyer”, and those who “need immediate money” and who try to resell them on second-hand portals.
"Be careful if you see a bike valued at 5,000 euros on one of those portals that is sold at half price because it is most likely stolen," he says. Between January and June, ten people have been arrested for theft of bikes in the city, six more than in all of 2019.
