One of the questions I often get asked is how safe it is out here. And, whilst some might raise their eyebrows at this, I always say very safe.

The taxis are all official, the streets are very well lit, there is an obvious police presence, there are barely any homeless people; the ones here are known and looked after by locals and restaurants. The reason for the raised brows? Yes, I have been burgled three times since moving to the Canaries in 2016.

As I understand it, however, the frequency of burglaries doesn’t actually make it an unsafe place; the propensity to burgle doesn’t mean that person wants to do you personally any harm. Indeed, as it has been explained to me, the police have a tiered punishment system, so whilst a “simple” burglary gets a rap on the knuckles, something intended to, or which accidentally, puts another in harms’ way is clamped down on extremely harshly.

I think people ask because they know I’m here alone, that I barely speak the language, because we automatically get nervous when things are different to what we are familiar with, and we are programmed to worry that the system won’t protect us. But in all honesty, it feels safer out here than in Central London, and that’s not just because I’m surrounded by people in the holiday spirit, tossing their cares aside as they step off the plane. Whilst that may be slightly true, and perhaps does make it easier for the unscrupulous types who are inclined to test a patio door when they can see a laptop on a dining table….

But bad things can happen everywhere; I was horribly mugged in Portugal, and our house in Bristol was burgled when one of my housemates was in the bath.

After I was burgled in Tenerife the very nice (and handsome!) English-speaking policeman at the station up in the hills told me that if I was ever scared by someone approaching me on the street, or encountered someone in my home, to scream, and the threat would run away because they will not be violent. And I carry that advice, safe in the knowledge the only weapon I need to defend myself is my voice.

Since I’ve given so much away to charity and been burgled three times, my possessions and my precious items have been whittled down. Therefore, so long as the lady cats and I are safe, it’s all that matters.