hi all,

i've just come across this here but been sent this email by friends. I'm half spanish and have lived in southern spain for eight years.

I know of personal experiences whereby friends have been stopped by fake civil guards on secondary roads outside of Madrid whereby everything valuable was taken, i know of two friends and colleagues this has happened to. So it has happend and it was even mentioned on spanish tv.

However, as far as the Guardia Civil go they DO ask you to get out of the car and you SHOULD comply if they request you to do so. I live not far from Gibraltar and I've been stopped no fewer than 3 times by the civil guard on my 13 mile trip to work. This area of Cadiz is a transient point of hashis runs and illegal immigrants so these road blocks can appear quiet frequently. Also, if a particular area is suffering from robberies, street racing or any other illegal activity then the civil guard get drafted in and set up road blocks everywhere.

You don't want to get on the wrong side of these fellows, generally now very professional and curteous unlike the Franco days, I think they do a good job on stamping down on things. I would agree that should you feel uncomfortable stopping where they suggest then pull over at the next REPSOL or town but generally they'll only pull you over in laybys like that anyway.