My wife and I, we found a purse yesterday somewhere in Felanitx. We took the found object to the local police station. What an exciting event it turned out to be. The agent in charge was a bit bewildered or so it seemed and did not really know what to do. He first inscribed the event into a book entitled Perduts. Then he tried to locate the person who lost her wallet on his computer but, to no avail. On closer examination of the contents of the purse, he soon established that the person was a German lady, a resident of Cala Murada. There were 200 € in cash and there was a credit card as well as a Targeta Sanitària, plus other bits and pieces. Clearly, there was a need to consult someone with a superior grade of responsibility. It was decided that an Acta de Entrega de Objetos Hallados had to be initiated.

The whole procedure took a very long time. We almost felt sorry for having bothered. It might have been easier to try and locate the poor woman ourselves but there you are. We were trying to fulfill our civic duties and initially felt quite good about it. However, the bureaucracy of it all and the ineptness of the local police force with the paperwork dampened our enthusiasm a bit. We hope the German lady will contact the police station and retrieve her goods. If no such claim was made within a period of two years, we were told that the money could be claimed by us if we so wished. Hmm.

Addendum: Good news. The lady has been found. Whilst the local police force in Felanitx seemed uneasy with the paperwork, they have already managed to locate the person who had lost the wallet. As a matter of fact, a police agent from Cala Murada came to the lady’s front door to alert her of the found property. Today, she went to Felanitx to retrieve her purse and asked to be given our telephone number. She then phoned us to express her gratitude. Tomorrow we will meet her for a coffee. Now, that police detective work must be called efficient. A happy end all round.

The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 31st, 2010. The time was 11:29:57.