I think it worthwhile to put on record that the sexual exploitation of children is something which is not new to certain areas of Spain and Portugal. This can be divided into two distinct categories, namely, domestic abuse as evidenced by the
Casa Pia prosecutions and imported abuse as evidenced by nightly events in many tourist enclaves.
A lot of people don't realise that the area down the Spanish Costa's and into Costa de la Luz and beyond is rife with Russian and South American mafia and Romanians who will sell their own sisters for a few Euro. These people have a different set of values to us in western Europe and this is sometimes difficult to comprehend. Stealing and then selling another persons child means little to these individuals.
The authorities in these areas have up until quite recently turned an almost blind eye to the activities which included droves of teenage youngsters from eastern Europe openly soliciting by the side of the road. It would appear that the need to maintain an active tourist industry was always the determining factor.
Was it little wonder therefore that some saw child abduction as a natural extension of these activities.