# Be careful of pickpockets in BCN!



## matty76 (Nov 23, 2012)

Hey guys, my phone got stolen from me while I was sitting down at a resturant in the Raval area. Really I am in shock and I just want to warn everyone to be so very, very careful in Barcelona. It is not a dangerous city for violent crime but for petty stuff like this? It is awful

Anyway I found a link which I want to share with you on areas you must be careful with. 

5 tips to not be a victim of crime in Barcelona in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain for Toca Chat

I agree 100% with the Ramblas, it is awful.


Seriously I wish the police would clean this city up.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Yes, it is not pleasant to be the victim of crime. We were burgled last year, chiefly because of our own carelessness and stupidity....not setting the alarm, not putting down the persilianas, leaving keys in door -easy exit...

But I'm guessing that Barcelona is no worse than London, Amsterdam or most big cities as far as street crime goes. In our first year in Prague we experienced attempts at mugging five times....
As most street crime in Prague isn't accompanied by violence -or wasn't seven years ago - our would-be muggers were unsuccessful as we did resort to violence: a sharp upward jab of the knee into the genital area -that worked well - screeching obscenities in the thief's face, really up-close-and-personal, a jabbing movement of the sharp end of the car keys, again to the groin area, brandishing one of those Nordic hiking sticks with violent intent: that all worked.

I hasten to add that had this occurred in, say, London, my reaction would have been to hand over everything of value on me. 

What street crime is like in Spain I as yet cannot say and hope I will never know. But I must say that a set of car keys held in the fist and aimed at the ******* is a very effective deterrent, in my experience.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

A couple of years ago my friends were driving through BCN and stopped at a service station. While they were driving away, some men dressed as "officials" stopped their car and asked if they could check their boot. My friends got out of their car to talk to these men - while they did that, another chap climbed in the front of their car and took my friends handbag, with "their lives in it" from the passenger seat! They called the police who told them that it was probably either a Moroccan or South American gang, as this problem was of epidemic proportions in the area!!!

Jo xxxx


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

Las Ramblas in Barcelona is probably heaven to a pickpocket. There are several kinds of professional pick-pockets in Barcelona all of them near braindead.

Pick-Pocket No. 1:- Typical Catalan part-time beach-bum but fulltime ape is on the lookout for wallets in back pockets of jeans. Relatively easy prey. So put your empty wallet in your back pocket and your cash in your socks. You can buy another wallet in the markets later if necessary.

or

Acquire some flexible sharp wire and make a loose noose and place the noose around the inside of your back pocket and when you feel Fingers then pull the wire as fast as possible and enjoy the wannabe Pick-Pocket screaming and looking at his blood stained fingers. Better again if they are now on the road. 

2. Dont fall for the famous Barca trick. Barcelona are playing at home and usually win. Diego the Pickpocket sees your wallet (again probably in your back pocket) and he throws his arms around you shouting "Barca, Barca . . ." with joy and simultaneously relieving you of your wallet.

Solution:- Place some beer mats in your back pocket tied together with rubber bands. Wait to see his face with after all the pickpocket's trouble he is not the possessor of four manky beer mats. Then you say:- "Should have gone to Specsavers . . ." and of course throw in "Hasta Luego."


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

I did read that there are around 1800 aggravated muggings in Barcelona each year (lot more than London) but if the value of goods stolen is less than a certain amount (maybe €400) you cannot be charged with an offence. So you may get shoved, bag stolen but they'll not take the iphone as its value is too high. Basically the police just have no power to help you.


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

I had my purse stolen from my zipped up bag which was clutched against my side, straps wrapped round it and my wrist,and my husband walking close to that side of me. To this day I don't know how they did it, although I suspect it was when I was stopped by some women to sign a petition, some charity thing which I refused. Distraction, look out for people asking you anything. Happy ending tho, the organisers of a cycle race the day after had the purse handed into them (it had obviously been ditched,) and sent it on to me. They wouldn't even let me pay the carriage costs and I only lost 10 euros and a couple of stamps, was glad to get my medical card back though. Just don't carry valuables in Barcelona unless they're strapped to your body underneath your clothes and that's probably not foolproof either!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

My mother had her handbag stolen in a restaurant in Nerja. I'm afraid, and especially because of the crisis, there are pickpockets just about everywhere.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Be very careful of people coming up to you with a clipboard either claiming to be doing a survey or collecting signatures. While you are looking at the clipboard or writing, you can't see what their other hand is doing under the board. We've caught four in our village up to this trick.

There's a video about it somewhere if I can only lay my hands on it, I'll post it.


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

Exactly! I think that's how they got my purse. They had a clipboard and were collecting signatures.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

*Not just in BCN*

Here's a collection of websites about the problem - be forwarned - it's not just in BCN:

Barcelona - Pickpocket Capital of the World - Spain - WorldNomads.com

Robbed In Barcelona | I know someone who got robbed in Barcelona

5 True Stories to Help you Recognize and Avoid Pickpockets in Barcelona «

Paris: Tackling the Problem of Pickpockets - TripAdvisor

Safe Spain Travel, pick pockets and other scams

BBC News - Olympics: Pickpockets show off 'one-second theft'


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