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AIBU?

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Original poster

Weird, dark underbelly to this place?

120 replies

Almondcakefortea · 05/06/2025 15:24

The Algarve?

This poor man who recently went missing on his stag do and was very sadly found dead.
Madeleine McCann of course
Reading up on things and apparently so many reports of people going missing over the years or bodies being found

Feels strange

OP posts:
soupyspoon · 05/06/2025 19:33

There was an episode of One Foot in the Grave set there as well wasnt there?

So you might have a point OP

MaryTheTurtle · 05/06/2025 19:31

Don’t forget the tourists in Spain who think after a few shandy’s they can fly off their balconies into the pool

ChessorBuckaroo · 05/06/2025 19:29

MoominUnderWater · 05/06/2025 15:38

I agree. And you also notice stuff about places you’ve been to before more. I always think of koh samui and koh phangan as being places where people get killed and raped. But other people might not have noticed the media stories as much. Again they’re places people go to and drink a lot/full moon parties.

Show quote history

Awful what happened to these two young Brit backpackers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh_Tao_murders

Koh Tao murders - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh_Tao_murders

MonderMomen77 · 05/06/2025 19:17

Been recently to quite an affluent part popular with Golfers. I witnessed the dark under belly as in the large groups of middle aged Golfing men were 50% golfing and 50% hooking up with women/prostitutes. Apparently this is the norm, I wondered how many wives were sat at home oblivious whilst their husbands were golfing. Got my eyes open, it was like Ibiza for oldies!

Velmy · 05/06/2025 19:16

Poopeepoopee · 05/06/2025 15:29

We had a holiday there with our kids including our daughter in year 6 of primary school who was regularly wolf whistled at. When she was out with us. Wearing childrens clothing, nothing provocative.

They also have one of the highest heroin addicts in the world.

They also have one of the highest heroin addicts in the world.

He must be pretty high! 🤣

Original poster
Almondcakefortea · 05/06/2025 19:08

Swimminginthedeepbluesky · 05/06/2025 18:40

My colleague is Portugese and says it has really high rates of sex trafficking, sex crimes, DV and infanticide /femicide

She would never live there again

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Algarve?

OP posts:
summerscomingsoon · 05/06/2025 19:05

Didshejustsaythatoutloud · 05/06/2025 17:33

Was the Algarve not known as a paedophiles playground before Madeline went missing?

yes it was a paedophile ring called Wonderland I think. But tbh they exist in all countries don't they

Original poster
Almondcakefortea · 05/06/2025 19:03

Didshejustsaythatoutloud · 05/06/2025 17:51

And that's just their police

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Exactly!

OP posts:
ArtTheClown · 05/06/2025 19:03

I've just remembered - my friend's sister and her family had their home in Vilamoura broken into and robbed while they were asleep upstairs. They were so freaked out they sold it.

summerscomingsoon · 05/06/2025 19:01

It's 2 cases in what 18 years?

Lad on his stag do had an accident.

Child taken when left alone by parents in an unlocked apartment.

Hardly a dark underbelly of a place. think you're being a tad dramatic

GucciBear · 05/06/2025 19:01

Is that you, Agatha?

Original poster
Almondcakefortea · 05/06/2025 19:01

YourSignalFadedIntoAnotherWorld · 05/06/2025 17:31

OMFG!

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Lots like this, so awful 😔

OP posts:
comeandhaveteawithme · 05/06/2025 18:55

MoominUnderWater · 05/06/2025 15:26

I thought this was going to be a thread about MN having a dark underbelly. Am a bit disappointed.

Algarve…lots of tourists getting drunk and falling off balconies, jumping off walls, etc. alongside non drinking related accidents and an infamous paedophile/child abduction case.

I thought this was going to be a thread about MN having a dark underbelly. Am a bit disappointed.

Same!!

HotCrossBunplease · 05/06/2025 18:54

@Almondcakefortea I’m kind of bemused why you did not mention in your OP that you had lived in the Algarve for 20 years. Surely that was relevant background to the debate you were trying to start?

Also- why do you live there if it’s so sinister to you?

FigTreeInEurope · 05/06/2025 18:53

Poopeepoopee · 05/06/2025 15:29

We had a holiday there with our kids including our daughter in year 6 of primary school who was regularly wolf whistled at. When she was out with us. Wearing childrens clothing, nothing provocative.

They also have one of the highest heroin addicts in the world.

...They also have one of the highest heroin addicts in the world.

Who's that then?

HotCrossBunplease · 05/06/2025 18:53

Swimminginthedeepbluesky · 05/06/2025 18:40

My colleague is Portugese and says it has really high rates of sex trafficking, sex crimes, DV and infanticide /femicide

She would never live there again

Show quote history

Actually Portugal was where JK Rowling’s abusive Portuguese husband beat her up, wasn’t it?

SunsetCocktails · 05/06/2025 18:50

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 05/06/2025 17:25

Higher than a giraffe's ass.

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I’ll have whatever he’s having….

I love The Algarve. Some beautiful small quiet tourist towns away from the Brits Abroad Stag and Hens. And let’s face it, everywhere has some kind of dark underbelly if you think about it. I live in a small town but there’s still streets you avoid, even in daylight.

nomas · 05/06/2025 18:46

Almondcakefortea · 05/06/2025 16:46

This is not true

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That’s what the CCTV shows.

Stop looking for a grisly death to bolster your weird theory.

WooleyMunky · 05/06/2025 18:45

Dis and dat policing...

EdithBond · 05/06/2025 18:41

For sure. There are people knocking around the southern Iberian Peninsula (often from elsewhere in Europe) who have pretty shaky backstories.

Fair few British criminals on the “Costa del Crime” and elsewhere.

Two Scottish men shot dead in a bar in Fuengirola earlier this week. Reportedly related to organised criminal gangs: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c991jpemrd9o

Another man arrested today in the Algarve: https://www.portugalresident.com/one-of-uks-most-wanted-fugitives-arrested-in-algarve/

Not sure about southern Portugal, but Andalusia was know for banditry, which lasted until the 1930s. Pretty wild landscapes, so plenty of places to hide out.

I guess a lot of holiday makers are oblivious to who’s lurking about. Places can feel safe, because of the locals, but it’s the itinerants you need to be careful of.

Swimminginthedeepbluesky · 05/06/2025 18:40

Almondcakefortea · 05/06/2025 16:39

I’ve lived here for twenty years, lots lots more goes on, lots of corruption too

Show quote history

My colleague is Portugese and says it has really high rates of sex trafficking, sex crimes, DV and infanticide /femicide

She would never live there again

samarrange · 05/06/2025 18:37

Please don't make me tap the "It's the availability heuristic" sign.

latetothefisting · 05/06/2025 18:36

SabrinaToolmaker · 05/06/2025 15:46

I was all ready to be told you could access the dark web from the gardening topic.

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see this is why we need to bring back the laughter reaction!

OP, MMC was nearly 20 years ago now, how many people do you think have visited (let alone lived in) the area since then?

blackrabbitwhiterabbit · 05/06/2025 18:36

Poopeepoopee · 05/06/2025 15:29

We had a holiday there with our kids including our daughter in year 6 of primary school who was regularly wolf whistled at. When she was out with us. Wearing childrens clothing, nothing provocative.

They also have one of the highest heroin addicts in the world.

How high was that heroin addict, then?

MrsSunshine2b · 05/06/2025 18:35

Anywhere marketed as a party destination for tourists is going to have quite a bit of crime and drunken idiocy going on. Even within small towns there will be streets which are lovely, family-oriented places and streets full of drunken yobbos with their tops off, and obviously occasionally the yobbos will wander into the nicer bits and vice versa.