PalenQ you have got my posting all to cock. You have put words in my mouth or on this forum I never have said.
I only posted the link as information. I never agreed or disagreed with its sentiments. You do not know my personal experience of the City either.
But thank you for your input on this subject. It got me thinking that maybe you should register and write your feelings directly in the comments to this article and to the person who wrote this article.

What a beautiful article. Thanks for sharing!

Very nice article. Things HAVE improved in Barcelona, I believe. They have really been making an effort to prevent this petty crime that is/was so rampant.

It did not help me from getting my (not expensive, older) snapshot digital camera picked this September.
In a fully brain-dead moment I had it placed next to me (and to make it even more comfortable for the thief, almost behind me) when taking a rest at the old harbour.
Funny enough, that was not a spot with many people around. But a few minutes later, the camera was gone.
I would not have been as stupidly careless in my hometown with my belongings, but I guess from time to time we need to be reminded that the world is not La-La-Land just because we decide to go on vacation.
Anyway, if that "incident" had ruined my vacation, I should probably stay at home for the rest of life..
but can't wait to get back to BCN in spring.

Fanny pack or not, I can be picked out as an american tourist from a mile away. Some people just don't look european and that is me! I look very american I guess so I try to be extra careful about not carrying too much of anything of value when sightseeing or on public transit.

I think even the most savvy traveler can be a victim anywhere. That would not deter me from visiting Barcelona though. Now if there is a lot of violence due to war or government unrest, then, I check that country off the list for a while...

Very nice article. Things HAVE improved in Barcelona, I believe. They have really been making an effort to prevent this petty crime that is/was so rampant.>

Well that is good news and about time - wonder why it took so long and hopefully things will stay better - Barcelona is such a wonderful wonderful city in every other way - let's hope local officials are finally tackling what has been an embarrassing IMO lapse of duty.

I will keep tuned to developments and will change my future comments if so.

Thanks for your insider input on that.

Lots of good information here, and I am happy to see that Spanish officials are beginning to take the problem seriously. My own two cents is that after living in Spain or Portugal for a total of 6 years off and on over the past four decades, and going to both countries every year for 8-9 weeks, I finally had to realize that it was time to give up on the idea that I would ever be able to acquire the inner alert system that most Spaniards and Portuguese have when it comes to pickpockets.

No matter how hard I try I inevitably lapse into carelessness or unawareness, and I have had a couple of close calls along with one or two successful pickpocket "hits" on family members while in Madrid, Barcelona, or Lisbon.

So my solution has been to find a Plan B, which has served me well. My unbending rule is that when I'm in a big city on the Iberian peninsula, I never carry anything in a purse whose loss would ruin my vacation. All the important stuff is either left at hotel/apt. or under my clothes in a pouch. I carry only a xerox copy of my passport. This is dorky perhaps, it is inconvenient perhaps, but it relieves me of having to worry about the onsequences of my inevitable carelessness. All it means is that when it's time to pay for something, I have to duck into a restroom to retrieve what I need.

I know there are many frequent travelers who have developed those antennae that keep you alert at all times, but no matter how hard I try, I can't. So my solution has meant I don't have to worry and it takes a lot of unnecessary anxiety out of the trip.

PalenQ.. I assume more police and undercover officers have been put into place. Store keepers and market stall owners have been complaining for YEARs, not only about the thievery but also the sexual acts taking place just outside their areas almost in broad daylight. It is all well known.. but unfortunately the judicial system does not have the capability of dealing with this very quickly or efficiently. What is considered "crime for jail sentence" here is none of what tourists or shopkeepers suffer apparently.
It is quite disturbing.

Hopefully that will change one day.

If you are in any doubt, just stand on the Ramblas and watch the scams go on in front of your eyes. The police could do this, but they ignore it.

"The Ramblas" are one full kilometer full of tourists floating up and down. How many cops would you need to seriously survey that many people on such a long stretch of street?
I'd say that Barcelona already has a massive amount of city cops and mossos all over town at the tourist hotspots.

At the end of the day, taking care of tourists is ONE but probably not THE most important job of law enforcement. They also have other (and more important) jobs to do than to cover my butt so I won't lose a camera or €50 in cash.

After all, when it comes to serious crime, Barcelona is so safe that I never had an awkward moment roaming the city by metro or on foot at 2 or 4 in the morning, have met far less drunk weirdos as in Munich, and much less obscure elements as in Brussels..

Last Oct. I stayed near Ramblas and noticed a lot more police presence than earlier years
Same in and around. the Metro.
As Cowboy said, don't expect to be " protected" at all times wherever
you
travel or, for that matter, live.

When I was in Soain, the TV news had a segment on how Barcelona's crime rate was rising. Not especially for tourists but drugs, prostitution, etc. I wouldn't NOT visit but be very aware of your surroundings.

It seems to me that what this article is about is the paranoia the writer had before she went and the actual experience she had. I think it is what a lot of people experience - I know that the first time I was planning a trip to Spain, I had many of the same thoughts from all the tales on the internet. Once I got there I soon realized there were not roving gangs of thugs all over Madrid and Barcelona. It's a personal story of how she worried too much and needlessly. On my first trip I did run into a woman I had read about on the internet (in Sevilla) which was kind of amusing... nothing like "I read about you on the internet" to get rid of a scammer, and fast. But she was an English lady trying to get money with some tale of woe and not a shady pickpocket.

And it is not only tourists that are targeted - locals can be targeted too. I bet that there are plenty of locals that get their wallets lifted at La Boqueria in Barcelona, or at the big Sunday flea market in Madrid.

I've just posted the first installment (yeah, I get wordy!) of a trip report about our November 2012 trip to Spain that included some time in Barcelona. We were not pickpocketed, BUT we had decided ahead of time to not use the Metro or bus system. We opted to have the extra expense of taxis which worked great for us. We were accosted a bit by a beggar who kept poking my husband with his cane (the beggar's, not DH's!) as we waited in line at Sagrada Familia, but that was just annoying. We wore our important stuff and almost all cash in under-clothing Jack Wolfskin pouches, but we had DSLR's around our necks and backpacks on our backs (with snacks and extra clothing mostly)--so obviously tourists. But no big issues. All this to say that for us, our vigilence and pre-trip decisions worked to help insure a safe trip this time. See my Trip Report if you are interested in more details.

We've been to barcelona many times in the last few years and only had a couple of problems. On our last trip in September, my wife went to the toilet in the baggage hall and put her handbag (purse) on the floor. A hand came under the dividing wall looking for the strap but managed to find the strap on her shoes. We reported it, but the Police in Barcelona are less than interested.

The only other time was a few years ago on an escalator in the metro. There were a couple of thieves, one in front and one behind (as it turned out). The one in front pretended to stumble as he got off and the one behind went for a bag as we were bumping into each other. We saw him and he lost out.

So ladies tiake care, watch out on the escalators and be ultra careful round ATM's.

I find it pleasing that a lot of you have read the article rather, than just post a gut reaction to the title.
for those women that but Purses(handbags) on the floor. Did you know here in Spain that is considered to be a way that it is bad luck, because the money can run out of it.

A hand under the dividing wall when going to the toilet would really freak me out. Is nowhere safe!!!??

We went to Barcelona and wore jackets - it was December. Although there were days in the 50s there were also afternoons where it hit 80! Go at a "cool" temps time and carrying your wallet underneath your jacket will be helpful. My husband does that. I carry a shoulder bag/pocketbook and hold it close to my body. But I may be just more aware - I am from NYC.

A hand under the dividing wall when going to the toilet would really freak me out. Is nowhere safe!!!??>>

micheline - that's an old, old trick. I remember hearing about it 30-40 years ago. wherever I am, i automatically look to see if there is a gap under the wall before I put my handbag on the floor. anyway, it's more hygienic to hang it up!

as is our wont, we found some pretty dodgy places in Barcelona, [we don't do it deliberately, it just seems to happen] but nothing happened except on the metro, when some girls tried to dip DH's wallet. He caught them at it and they moved away.

<i>The only other time was a few years ago on an escalator in the metro. There were a couple of thieves, one in front and one behind (as it turned out). The one in front pretended to stumble as he got off and the one behind went for a bag as we were bumping into each other. We saw him and he lost out.</i>

That's what happened to us. They only got an empty glass case which they promptly gave back to us having "seen" it on the ground--my wife must have dropped it, so they claimed.