Anti-theft system for your shop in Fuengirola or Marbella: what to actually install

Part of the Costa del Sol security guide

The direct answer

"Anti-theft system" in a shop means two different things

When a shopkeeper searches for an anti-theft system they usually picture the gates at the entrance and the tags that beep. That system (EAS) does one job: stopping a tagged garment or product from leaving through the door during opening hours. It works well in fashion, perfumery and supermarkets, and it has two costs nobody mentions at the start: tagging every unit and removing the tag at the till.

What a small shop actually loses, though, comes in through three doors: shoplifting while open, internal shrinkage (what disappears without going through the till) and break-ins when the premises are closed. Gates only cover the first. Well-placed cameras, an alarm for when the shutter comes down and control over who enters the stockroom cover all three.

To be clear: tag gates are not in our catalogue. If your shop needs them, you buy them from your tag supplier and we install the rest; many neighbourhood shops get more out of two visible cameras and a screen by the entrance than out of a gate.

Cameras in a shop: where they go and what they need to see

You do not cover a shop with "cameras everywhere". You cover it with a few cameras in the places that matter:

• The entrance, at face height. This is the camera that identifies people. It goes inside, facing the door, so the daylight from the street does not turn faces into silhouettes.
• Till and counter. It sees hands, the drawer and the POS. It settles most disputes, with customers and with staff.
• Aisles with no line of sight from the till. A tall shelf or a blind corner is where shoplifting happens. There, a visible camera deters more than a hidden one.
• Stockroom and back door. Where the supplier comes in and where shrinkage goes out.
• A screen by the entrance showing the live image. Customers seeing themselves as they walk in is by far the cheapest measure and the one with the biggest effect.

For a shop, an 8 MP camera with colour night vision, powered over the network cable (PoE), is the usual choice, such as the Ajax 8 MP Dual Light turret IP camera; in shops with many cameras we also use Hikvision and Dahua, with a recorder the shop owns rather than a third-party cloud. If you are torn between brands, we compare them in Dahua vs Hikvision, and how many cameras you really need is in how many security cameras do I need?.

The alarm for when the shutter is down

Cameras show what has happened; the alarm tells you while it is happening. In a shop we build it with Ajax, no monthly fee, with the hub and the detectors a retail space needs:

What shop owners value most is not the equipment, it is the routine: the alarm arms at closing time, every employee has their own code and the app keeps a record of who armed it, who disarmed it and when. If a detector triggers, the photo detector sends an image to your phone and within ten seconds you know whether it is the neighbour's cat or someone inside. If you also want a monitoring centre, a licensed security company connects it, not us: we explain it in monitored alarm or phone alerts?.

Stockroom, back door and who gets in: access control

Internal shrinkage is not solved with more cameras; it is solved by knowing who went into the stockroom and when. A card reader or a keypad on the stockroom door, each employee with their own credential, and a log you can check. On the suppliers' door, a video intercom lets you see who is calling and open from the till without leaving the counter. The systems and options are in access control for communities, offices and businesses.

What the law says about recording in a shop

Recording in a shop is legal and common in Spain, but with rules the Spanish Data Protection Agency does enforce (Organic Law 3/2018, articles 22 and 89):

• An information sign in a visible place before entering, naming the data controller and where to exercise your rights.
• No fitting rooms, no toilets, no staff rest areas. Ever.
• Recordings are deleted after one month at most, unless a specific one has to be kept to report an incident. The recorder is sized for that, not for "keep everything we can".
• Staff are informed in writing that there are cameras and what they are for, before they are switched on.
• The street, only the bare minimum. The entrance camera points at your door, not at the whole pavement; the detail is in can my camera record the street?.

This is practical guidance from an installer, not legal advice: for your specific case, your adviser.

Businesses covered by private security regulations: what we do and what we don't

Some businesses are required by law to have specific security measures: banks, jewellers and silversmiths, art galleries and antique dealers, petrol stations, lottery outlets and betting and gaming premises, among others (Law 5/2014 and Order INT/317/2011). That part is installed and connected by a private security company registered with the national registry, and Dartel Solutions is not one and does not pretend to be. In those premises we only do the part that is open to any installer, video surveillance, networking, access control and video intercoms, and we tell you so in the first conversation so you do not waste time. For a clothes shop, a hairdresser, a bar or a hardware store, which are not on that list, everything in this article is ours to install.

What drives the price of protecting a shop?

The equipment is paid once, with no fee, and its current price is on each product page in the shop. Installation is separate and five things drive it: the number of cameras, whether there is network cabling or it has to be run, the size of the premises, whether there is a shop window onto the street and how many doors need controlling. The total comes in the quote, itemised and with no obligation, and if you buy the equipment in our shop the installation carries a 10% discount.

Which areas do you cover?

In Fuengirola: the centre, Los Boliches, the seafront promenade, Torreblanca and Carvajal. In Marbella: the centre, San Pedro Alcántara, Nueva Andalucía and Las Chapas. And the rest of the Costa del Sol, from Nerja to Sotogrande. The pages for each area: security installer in Fuengirola and security installer in Marbella.

Site visit and itemised quote: +34 672 81 57 89 (WhatsApp) · info@dartelsolutions.com · shop

You might also find these useful

• Access control for communities, offices and businesses in Marbella
• Can I put a camera on my façade that records the street?
• Large projects: hotels, shopping centres and communities

This article in other languages: Leer en español · Читать по-русски · Читати українською · Auf Deutsch lesen · In het Nederlands lezen · Läs på svenska