FEAR FORCES URBANISATIONS TO INCREASE SECURITY

Approximately one third of all communities of owners on the Costa del Sol are considering increasing their security and have asked for estimates from experts, it was reported last week. Many communities are thinking of installing video cameras or employing private security guards at night, although the high cost often means that it is difficult to obtain consensus about the matter and few of them go ahead with the idea. In the meantime, many individuals are installing alarms and video entryphones in their homes, particularly those who live on urbanisations on the coast. The fear of robbery or attack is so great in some areas that one community of owners in Marbella has invested over a million euros on a state-of-the-art video-vigilance scheme which can distinguish between people and animals, and which scans car number plates as they enter the complex, but experts say it is possible to safeguard properties much more cheaply by installing cameras in strategic places. Four cameras monitoring an average-sized garage, with the video recorder and cables, can be obtained for about 5,000 euros, while 20 cameras and a larger number of monitors could set the community's coffers back by about 60,000 euros. While many people are not worried about the prospect of being constantly filmed by security cameras outside their homes, others are against such schemes, believing that the constant presence of cameras is an invasion of their privacy.