a man was shot in the face while sitting in a cafe

These are the latest in a long-line of mob killings in this part of the Costa del Sol.

Two died after a hairdresser's was peppered with gunfire
On 18 October this year, an Eastern European man was shot dead in Marbella.

In May, a policeman and a known French criminal were injured in a shooting in the same city while the officer was involved in trying to track down members of a gang.

So as more and more Britons, Germans and other foreigners look for their dream homes in the sun here, how many realise the scale of organiwed crime around them?

In 2003 alone, Spanish police smashed 53 separate gangs in the Costa del Sol.