Anybody who has ever had the misfortune to have had something stolen whilst in Spain will have no doubt spent valuable time hanging around a police station, waiting to report the theft.

You must make a denuncia or statement, one reason for which is that it has to be presented to insurance companies if making a claim. I've done this quite a few times for various reasons - not that I get robbed a lot, I hasten to add - but I have helped others out by translating for them at various times. This has usually meant waiting quite a while, relating the story to a disinterested policeman, who then takes ages to type it all up, using one finger on a battered old typewriter, dating from pre-Franco days! Actually, the last time I went to the cop shop, the officer used a computer, although it took just as long, while we sat in silence, feeling uncomfortable!

Anyway, those days have gone, I am pleased to say! Mrs Anchovy's phone was pinched by a sneak thief and so we had to denounce the act. However, the technological age has arrived, due to an imaginitively named web site www.policia.es where you can click on denuncias and within minutes you have made the online report. It will be ready usually by ten the next morning and you have 72 hours to pick it up.

You are given a reference number and can check online if it is ready or not. I made my denuncia at 6.30 one evening and sure enough it was ready to be picked up when I checked the website the next morning. The best thing is that you then go along to your nominated police station and give them your reference number and show ID and they will hand you the completed denuncia for you to sign and take away. You have priority over anybody waiting and do not have to queue.

This system is a great improvement. There are certain things you cannot use this method for, robbery with violence being an example and of course you must be able to speak a bit of Spanish, although I'm sure someone at an internet cafe or even your hotel would help in this respect. For residents here who have experienced waiting in the past to do a report, it will certainly make life easier in future.

You just have to hope of course, that you don't get to try it out....

it's a good thing your computer wasn't pinched!