JudyADenver

I have been reading various posts about pick pockets and safety in Barcelona. In my upcoming trip with my husband, we will certainly heed all of the great advice on this website (including wearing a money belt and being aware of our surroundings at all times)

We would never wear shorts and white tennis shoes, but are there other tell tale signs of being American which we should avoid? (Obviously English is a dead give away and we don't speak any Spanish)

I am blonde and often mistaken for French but no one would consider either of us Spanish. What do Barcelona natives wear around town so that we could at least try to blend in? I always wear my pumas and my husband wears ecco brand shoes (both European)

How can you go to a nice restaurant dressed up and still not be a target for muggers and pick pockets?

adeben

When I spent five days recently in Barcelona, I stayed in a hotel on Las Ramblas. I went to some fine retaurants, did not wear a secret money belt, spoke only English (having no Spanish), and somehow did not seem to attract 'muggers and pick pockets'. I dressed the same way as I do at home, and non-one seemed to know, or care, that I was Australian. I followed the same procedure some years ago when I visited Denver: no one there seemed to care that I wasn't American; they didn't mug me or pick my pocket there either.

kenderina

Believe me, when you try to blend it is more noticeable you are not a local...in Barcelona you can find all kinds of people, don't worry about that. Being an American doesn't make you a better target than a German, a Japanese or a Sevillian visiting Barcelona. The best advice is just don't get paranoid, be aware and have fun !! .

Deb15July

Viajero2,

So what is up with your sarcasm...is this supposed to be a site to help travelers or a way for people to make obnoxious comments to others to make themselves feel superior?

You can make your points, which I am not saying are totally off base, without being rude. Some people have not traveled extensively and it can be a little intimidating to visit somewhere and not speak the language.

JudyADenver...I must say that the Spaniards were very polite and helpful 30 yrs ago when I visited Barcelona. I was fairly fluent in Spanish at the time, but I would say that if you just attempt to say the basic words...people are much more willing to help. Most people I encountered spoke English, and I was never worried about my safety...I was traveling alone with my 15 yr old sister. Just keep your eyes open, don't get S*** faced drunk, and keep your money and passport out of reach.

BTW...My sister and I are both blonde and we had a lot of cat-calling...Rubia, Rubia (blonde)...just turn and smile. Spaniards like to flirt.

Mary_Fran

Judy, I apologize in advance, but I just can't help myself. My first reaction, before I even opened this thread was this:

Avoid screaming, "Stop, Thief!"

I'm a sadder but wiser(?) girl, having had my purse deftly and mysteriously removed from my lap by an extremely talented thief posing as a waiter at at an outside table at LaGarduna, a famous restaurant in the covered food market, La Boqueria. He disappeared so quickly around the corner of the building after having approached us with a towel over his arm and inquiring whether our meal was satisfactory, I thought it suspicious and so checked for my purse, which was indeed gone.

Fortunately, all that was in my purse was my camera, as my credit cards, passport and money were safely tucked in a money belt.

In my opinion, Judy, nothing protects you from muggers and pick pockets, so just keep your stuff safe as you can and don't let it color your impression of the city.

In retrospect, the only thing I think I could have done better to protect my purse was perhaps to slip the long strap over my head and let slide it down to my hips and keep it as discretely as possible in my lap. The camera in that purse remains the best, though not most expensive, I've ever had. Wish I still had it!

Our meal at LaGarduna, by the way, was probably the best I had during our three-week trip in 2004.

cruiseluv

I am sorry but I don't understand this obsession of disguising the fact of being American. This seems a recurrent theme in the Fodors board.

I don't think that the French, the Italian, the Spaniards, etc. care to disguise their nationality when they visit the US.

crefloors

Pick pockets are oportunists so they are going to go for anybody they thing may be vulnerable, including the residents of Barcelona. I don't think it's only tourists that would get their pockets picked in San Franciso or New York.

I am never so cocky as to say "it would never happen to me", but I have done fine so far. I also know there are a million scenerios that could happen and has happened, like my purse just being ripped off my person, but so far so good.

I have an Ameribag purse and I keep it tucked kind of to the front of my body and my arm over it. That covers all the pockets and zippers so it would be fairly difficult for someone to get into it. I would hope that it would be enough for a pick pocket to go for an easier target. I never set it down unattended, make sure it's closed and zipped totally after making a purchase or what ever, before I start on my way again, and then I just don't worry about it. I wear very simple jewelry and not a lot of it, and as I say "knock on wood" after four trips I have never been robbed.

Dukey

It will be very helpful if you remain aware that not all the "tourists" who visit Barcelona are from the US and you are likely to see a wide variety of dress modes including shorts on some folks, lots of athletic shoes, sandals with socks, etc., etc.

Pickpockets target anyone and everyone they think is/are going to be distracted enough to not notice the robbery in progress until it is too late. Being aware of your surroundings is the least of it; if you pay too MUCH attention to your "surroundings" you'll end up being the perfectly distracted target.

Not speaking Spanish won't make any difference when you aren't speaking to anyone and that will be more likely than not unless you strike up conversations with a bunch of passers-by.

I am not aware that Americans are any more likely to be targets of theft than anyone else. Perhaps your thinking has been engendered by the fact that most of the people who post here about theft ARE Americans.

StCirq

And the language of Barcelona is Catalan, not Spanish, by the way.....

bob_brown

I have found that for some reason my wife and I must have a sign on us that reads
American. In Paris, people automatically speak English particularly to my wife.

I have been tempted to have her go into a Paris store for women and purchase a complete outfit including shoes just to see if that would have any impact.

I rather doubt it that it would. I think our appearance silently shrieks American and I don't think there is anything we can do about it.

When I lived in Germany I at one time had a mediocre level of fluency in German. One day in Verona I was changing trains for Venice. A vendor pushing a cart with drinks and snacks came along the platform. I asked him in German how much a Coke costs. He replied "ein hundert Lira", then he looked at my shoes and said, "Americano! Hundert zehn." So much for my disguise of wearing a hat I had bought in Munich

The only person that hat fooled was a huge Frenchman who accosted me on Pont Neuf and spat the word BOCHE in my face and then glowered at me in supreme anger and disgust. I was fearful I was going to end up in the Seine, so I protested that I was an American. I showed him my passport just to prove it. I immdediately found a clothing store and purchased a beret!!

chartley

bob brown

It was asking the price that gave you away.

laclaire

The point is not to "not look American" and you can't avoid it anyways. The minute you open your mouth even children who don't speak English know you are American. As has been said, it is about opportunity.

Now, on this board, posters are all about the money belts and tourists seem to walk around literally strapped with cash, passports and credit cards, all tucked safely into the sweaty waist of their docker cargo shorts. My question is, "Why?" In a day of tourism in Barcelona (and let's assume that you are using the hop on hop off bus and seeing a ton of stuff), you will spend (for 2 people) about 70€ on entrance fees (let's say you do 5 big things), no more than 30€ for lunch, and will probably be back at the hotel before dinner to freshen up and change, in which case you can get more money/whatever then. I will never understand why anyone thinks they need so much surplus to merit a hidden bag of loot. Just carry what you would whenever and be aware of your surroundings.

Back to the original question, though, my friend Pol and I met for coffee a few months ago and he was wearing one of those floppy fisherman hats, a Brazil soccer shirt, jeans and sneakers. As he is blond and shorter, he looked like a British/German tourist and I told him so. His response: It doesn't matter how I dress here, I could never look like a tourist. Look at them all (motions to plaza Catalunya in general). They are just staring up, looking around and completely oblivious to what is going on. I can't do oblivion.

So, avoid oblivion.

laclaire

Oh, and in the hierarchy, Americans fall under Japanese (which encompasses all of Asia because thieves here cannot tell them apart), British and Scandinavian, who are all more likely to have more money and expensive toys. If Americans feel like they are targets, it is not because we are so desireable on a material level, but because we are the ones who consistenly present opportunity, a symptom (according to one of my professors) of the nation's "pathetic sunny optimism and belief that nothing has venom anymore." I can't say I agree with him 100%, but as many of the students agreed with that affirmation, I have to say it is accepted around here.

Neil_Oz

'The minute you open your mouth even children who don't speak English know you are American.'

Are the locals really so skilled at recognising different varieties of English that they can distinguish an American from other native English-speakers who visit the city? I'm impressed.

Last year we were robbed in San Francisco, but I don't think the thief was picking on Australians. Any mug would have done.

MissPrism

It's not really about looking American or anything else, it more like looking like a naive tourist.

If you go to somewhere like London, Venice or New York many people are going to be visitors from outside, so will have cameras etc. but some people will stand out if they are wearing the tourist "uniform" of shorts, bumbag etc.
I remember going on a bus excursion to Verona and one couple were dressed just like that. I was not surprised when they reported that they had been robbed.

It's not so much about fitting in as standing out. The hawk goes for the white bird in a flock of black ones ;-)

elina

"Are the locals really so skilled at recognising different varieties of English that they can distinguish an American from other native English-speakers who visit the city? I'm impressed."

Well, I donīt know about the good people of Barcelona, but I can say that it is very easy to distinguish Americans and UK citizens just by hearing them talk.

kleeblatt

In Prague, my Swiss group was mistaken for Germans. They were called Nazis by a rough looking group of men travelling in one of the trams. We clutched our wallets and prayed they would get off soon. They did and our wallets were safe.

No one even cared that I was the only American. They did know we were tourists and were targeted.

Neil_Oz

elina, obviously you speak English. I was just curous as to how a non-English-speaker would instantly make the distinction between (say) me and an American. Would it be my characteristically Australian shyness and diffidence that would alert them?

lawchick

http://tinyurl.com/y5ycmb

lawchick

cylons are everywhere