whoooooaaaaaaa, i just saw something for the first time here in madrid.
i was sitting in my office in peurta del sol and i heard a stampede outside my window. this is normal and happens a lot, it is the ever so familiar sound of the pitter patter of "topmanta" (illegal street merchants who sell off of the top of a sheet) feetsies running up the street from the police who do roll-byes often.
what was new was that this time not only did the cop van give chase up the street but when the "topmantas" turned and ran up a pedestrian street to the left where the van could not enter, the cop actually got out of the van and a foot persuit followed. the cop returned to the van empty-handed so i guess they were too fast for him.
i have also seen an ad campaign on tv lately against the purchasing from street merchants with no licenses to sell.
i think this is mostly due to the fact that it is nearing holiday shopping time and they crack down a lot more this time of year.
with the tv ads, they are obviously trying to appeal to the buyer, discouraging him/her from purchasing anything from the street merchants, hence nipping the problem in the bud by getting rid of the demand.
Hey, Jer! I think that we would all want to get DVDs or CDs for the price you can see them in the "top manta", but the problem is the mafias that are behind those poor inmigrants that are exploiting them. If not, the prices for an original CD ARE exceedingly expensive!
Posts: 31 | Location: Madrid | Registered: 17 January 2003
I hate the labels, and I would love to buy from top mantas, I don't do it though because it even bothers me more to have all the streets around me be packed with people stopped looking at CDs or scarves or whatever it is they sell...
Regarding the cop, are you sure there wasn't a donut rolling down the street? I haven't seen them chase anything ever by foot.
I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
Posts: 652 | Location: Mostly from Miami, FL. - Born in San Remo, Italy | Registered: 30 April 2004
Definitely, you live in a different Madrid than that I used to live: the "municipales" used to run behind the "topmanteros" in the Atocha station (before the works, of course), and I can remember they got some once (there were like four vans, so they surrounded them... little chances for the cops on a one-to-one run, I guess).
Posts: 399 | Location: Madrid | Registered: 05 July 2001
I've seen that in Atocha sometimes too, and I've actually seen cops running faster than the inmigrants! It's quite sad, as the cops usually just grab their 'mantas' and they have to keep running empty-handed and probably pay for the goods themselves... I think that they should go for the mafias instead of those poor people
Posts: 648 | Location: Madrid Spain | Registered: 30 April 2004
I saw a policeman in the Rastro carrying a manta full of DVDs or CDs. He didn't appear to have arrested anybody, and I don't think he had taken down anyones details.
What do you think he was thinking?
(a) "Good job well done, that's one less illegal merchant crowding our streets and funding Al Qaeda"
or
(b) "Cool, I just got Shrek 2 AND El Lobo for free!! My kid are going to love this!!!!"
saw one getting busted on calle preciados the other day.
cop had him by the scruff of the neck and was saying "ni se te ocurra correr" (don't even think about running"). cop was not plain-clothes but normal uniform and had a backpack full of cds/dvds in the other hand.
soooooze, there are still quite a few of them "working" in and around the puerta del sol, plaza mayor, etc... i see them on a daily basis.
The guys around the entrance of Tirso de Molina Metro at the weekends is the one to hang around for, it's most of the guy's who used to frequent the Atocha area, so the stuff is plentyful, and the other place you can catch them is half way up Calle Carretas, between about 5.00pm & 7.00pm, and so if you hang there for a while, they will when the cost is clear, suddenly appear, and if you fast enough, you'll have time to buy a bunch before they scarper.
But of course, I always buy mine at fnac...
:cheers:
Posts: 696 | Location: Santander | Registered: 11 August 2003
If you do stoop to buy from a manta just remember that by doing so you continue to provide an incentive for them to keep at the profession. Since policemen spend a considerable amount of time and resources chasing them (understandable considering the collosal amount of money lost to copyright violation), there are fewer resources to prevent muggings and other crimes. You can make whatever jokes you like about what the police would do with their spare time if they weren't out chasing them but it doesn't in any way benefit us to have them tied up chasing manteros.
Your support of the manta industry affects most of us in a negative way, just not one that is blatantly obvious. You're not just damaging the record or film industry's bottom line, you're making Madrid less safe and less pleasant to live in. If you'd like to poke the record industry in the eye without increasing the danger to us all, why not download a file-sharing program and go find that album online?
By the way, if you think manteros are relatively benign as a whole you've not been reading about the perfume manteros and where they get those brand-name perfumes for so little.
</soapbox>
Posts: 289 | Location: Madrid via DC via Mexico via ... | Registered: 01 August 2003
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