kleeblatt

8-)

anaheimwoman

graziella, your points are well taken. i have travelled to so many countries in europe, asia, australia. the first and only encounter i had with crime occured in madrid in 2004. my purse was snatched while i was 2 steps away from getting into our rental car. we just came out of the car rental office when a man came from out of nowhere, yanked my purse and got into a waiting motorcycle and sped away with my purse. not that i was not using common sense or not paying attention to my surroundings. we were in nice business area (salamanca area), i was 2 steps from getting into the front passenger seat of the car while my husband held the door open for me. according to some people who witnessed the incident, there were these 2 guys in a motorcycle waiting outside the car rental office - in restrospect, waiting for the right moment to rob me. i called the credit card companies right away to report the loss and as i followed up with the credit card companies even after we had already returned to the US, there were no attempts to use them at all. they were just interested in cash? and maybe cameras or some other small valuables. madrilenos and people from spain are truly very nice and warm people - i am impressed at how most of them are just so hospitable, helpful etc. according to some people we know who live in madrid and barcelona, these criminals who perpetrate these crimes against tourists are mostly illegal immigrants from other parts of europe ( mostly from the eastern parts )who can't find legal employment in spain and resort to a life of street crimes. now before anybody huffs and puffs about this comment, please read : MOSTLY meaning not all. graziella, to your point - i don't know how anybody can take offense at what you just shared and take it out of context.

lincasanova

i guess you could say i have been living in a cave. But i do have newspapers and t.v. which confirm everything that has been posted about spain, (and other countries).

Have only travelled to the states.. not lived there, for 35 years.

i was aware of a lot of tourist scams in miami area with rental cars, etc.. but was unaware that these spanish local scams are so prevalent in the u.s.a now.

i travel there three or four times a year.. and do not hear my friends there talking about all their friends and unsuspecting visitors who have been robbed, scammed, etc. like what happens here.

was just trying to put a red flag up along with OP for unsuspecting travellers.

I still think there are few places where your host will have to sit you down and READ you a LONG list of ongoing scams to look out for before you venture into most US cities this spring.

but.. if there IS a list, i hope it gets shared before I go there. I appreciate the warnings.

hopefully no one is offended by this.. nor thinks that in no way this advice excludes any country.. but can be considered savvy warnings to be applied anywhere when you travel.

by all means.. enjoy your trips, and don't be intimidated by safety warnings.

blackduff

For the positive or negative posts on this thread, I think I should make a small note.

I think is one of the safest countries I've lived. Sure you can have your bag stolen or maybe someone will break the window for your car but the overall feeling for being in Spain you will find that you're secure.

If you read the local newspapers, it's not going to be filled with killings and murders. Certainly there's some but in comparison other countries, it's minor.

One example is something common in Spain. If two people start to get into an argument and things start to get a little heated. Strangers will jump into this fray and keep everyone's temperature lowered. This is a residual from Franco's tight policing.

When I moved from Spain, I have found that I've made a negative personal safety change.

Blackduff

basingstoke

Two things that seem to work - my wife and daughter will use an older pocketbook that has a shoulder strap. I threaded a length of picture wire through the strap anchoring at both ends. If you do it right it is invisible and flexible. Keeps the strap from being cut. Also, in addition to a moneybelt for the really valuable stuff, I usually wear a photographer's vest. It has lots of zippered/velcro pockets so the day's cash can be divided up and keeps pickpockets guessing. It's also a comfortable way to carry small things, even in warm weather.

Christina

I think people who are naive travelers or just unaware of things in general can get good tips from reading lists like these.

Of course, they should apply to any place. There are many places in the US where there are scams involving various kinds of car breakdowns, including flat tires. That is not some Spanish specialty, it is just a specialty of crooks. They have that thing around where I live, I've read about it in the paper more than once (Wash DC).

I would not advise to never stand in lines, it might be better to obviously, not carry valuables in your pockets that can be picked in line. u90 Wouldn't that make more sense? Men shouldn't be carrying wallets in their rear pockets, anyway.

As for taking flowers or some leafy branch from gypsies, I think that is a thing they do in some other countries, also (if not that, many other things), just to engage people. I have no interest in taking greenery from strangers on the street, in any case, so don't know why anyone would take anything from them, nor would I want to carry around some stupid piece of greenery on the street from anyone.

A lot of these things are just common sense and things you should do anywhere, all the time (all of them, probably).