To stay safe in Playa don’t walk home late at night with all your holiday money on you (even if it is hidden in a money belt: muggers know about them). Keep your valuables close on the beaches and even by the pool and put them in your room safe, especially if you have ground floor accommodation.

Never go home with strangers, locals or tourists, no matter how good looking, without making a show of telling your friends where you are going.

Timeshare (now known as a vacation membership club) has been tamed in Playa del Inglés and sales people now have to have a desk and stay behind it. That doesn’t stop them getting carried away: We saw one timeshare guy carrying his desk over his head as he chased after a good prospect.

If you are interested in a timeshare then by all means talk to the sales guys and go and visit their premises. Be aware that they are experts and can convince anyone that a timeshare, sorry vacation club membership, is just what they want. Otherwise avoid eye contact and walk on by.

The no eye contact rule also applies to the African ladies who offer hair braiding or try and slap a good luck bracelet on your arm.

You may come across three card or shell game tricksters in Playa. Don’t do what we saw one guy do and drop his entire holiday roll on the middle card: All games for money hustlers on the streets are crooked and you won’t win, no matter how clever you think you are. Street games are illegal and the hustlers have a habit of bolting as soon as they see a policeman. They don't stop to give you your maoney back.

Common sense avoids 99% of scams and crimes in Playa del Inglés.