i live in san diego and been to barcelona twice. never a problem.

We visited Barcelona for 5 days and were very careful and aware of the pickpocketing reputation. Sure enough, we thwarted an attempt on the escalators out of the metro--guy placed a newspaper over his attempt to get in my bag--he had been following us. Barcelona should be ashamed as it is well known and a well deserved bad reputation.

Every single time we left our Barcelona hotel the front desk staff warned us about being vigilent,and protecting our valuables at all times. This also happened to us in restaurants as staff repeated the same warnings. We've never been warned like this in any other city.We were in the Eixample district.
One pickpocketing attempt against us took place in the Barcelona Metro but my husband hit her hand with his Metro map, she screamed but no one on the train paid any attention to her.She moved tot he other end of the train and got off at the next stop. There weren't any cops in sight or we would have reported her.It is a beautiful city but does seem to have this problem with pickpockets and thefts.