My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe in October with our daughter who will be almost a year. We were planning on staying a week in Seville and taking some short day trips to surrounding areas before heading off to Portugal for the second week. I have heard though that Seville is riddled with high petty crime especially directed at tourists. I was frightened by stories of bashed windshields and unsympathetic police. Is this truely the case? And would it be unsafe for us to travel with our daughter here? I would love to hear some real life testamonials about time spent in Seville. Thanks.

I don't recommend driving around Sevilla, so you don't have to worry about the smashed windshields. We were there October 2000 and parked at one of those large underground car parks and were fine but did not leave anything visible in the car. A friend of mine had her car robbed in the same car park a couple of years ago--but she had CD's visible and maps. We were warned repeatedly about petty theft, so we kept all valuables in the hotel safe and wore a money belt. We took a lot precautions and yet, never had any problems, whatsoever. We even were out very late and saw no weirdos or suspicious looking people lurking. Be careful and alert and you will be fine. Seville is great fun.

Cars without Seville plates seems to be regarded as fair game - I saw one such with a note in the window explaining the owner was from Seville & asking for the car not to be touched!<BR>I have heard that leaving a local newspaper in the front can help.<BR><BR>Otherwise it's not a particularly bad place, certainly a lot safer than Barcelona.I feel safe there.<BR><BR>It does get a bit shady in the barrio very late at night, I've had one failed attempt by someone who was literally frothing at the mouth - easy to avoid when you can see them coming.

I can't address the car safety issue in Sevilla, as we ditched the car as soon as we arrived. However, I too was concerned about the safety in Spain, particulary Madrid and Sevilla. There were absolutely NO problems but I exercised good common sense also. I had a hidden pouch with the majority of my money, passport & credit cards and only carried a few pesatas in my backpack. I also had a small lock on my backpack so the only unlocked zipper was a small pocket. I also carried a good camera in a separate bag. At night I didn't carry my camera in Sevilla and I didn't carry it at all in Madrid (my point and shoot made do!).<BR><BR>I've been all over Europe, and spent alot of time in Italy, and safety in Spain was no an issue. In Cordoba and Sevilla outside of the cathedral and Alcazar, I saw a few gypsies handing out rosemary but I just walked right past them and they didn't bother me. I stayed in the barrio of Santa Cruz in Sevilla and walked around by myself (had to try the tapas) in the evening until midnight without any problems.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful trip.

Just got back from Spain on Monday and didn't have any problems myself. We always felt very safe in Sevilla and even across the river in Triana. At night there were always plenty of people out walking around, so we were never alone on the street, and we were never approached by anyone. As far as cars go, we didn't have one, because most everything was in walking distance. In Madrid, I did feel a little less safe. Like a previous poster, I wore my money and passport in a hidden pouch, and kept my camera out in a bag worn across my chest. We did witness a purse snatching one night, but it was in a large crowd, and the person did get her bag back. The police we talked to were very responsive to that incident.<BR>The main thing is to just be smart: Don't wear lots of jewelry and clothing that will mark you as a foreigner, wear your valuables in a hidden pouch and if you must take a camera or other items out with you in a bag, wear it across your chest and hold onto it while you're walking. <BR>Enjoy!

I am looking at Seville in May travelling solo, 37 year old male, minimal Spanish (cannot converse only very basic). I have always wanted to visit this part of the world but also waould like to meet up with english speakers. Can you please recommend any mature (not student) expat bars or hangouts that would ease the isolation of travelling solo in Seville?<BR>Thanks!<BR><BR>Elwood

Cathryn,<BR><BR>All the posters are right. I live in Seville and work at a hotel and I have <BR>seen some guests that had their purses snatched, but they were usually very<BR>touristy looking and kind of careless,<BR>in the way they wore their bags and so on. I agree with the money belt, after all, it´s not easy to completely avoid showing you are a tourist, I mean, they<BR>hear you speak and ocasionally you need to break out a map and such.<BR>By all means, leave the plane tickets in the room or hotel safe! I´ve seen a few guests go through a lot of hassle because of not doing that.<BR><BR>Ellwood:<BR><BR>Go to La Carboner&iacute;a in Levies street,<BR>nice international atmosphere and some<BR>authentic flamenco dancing.Go after 11pm<BR>or midnight.<BR><BR>Flaherty´s irish pub by the Cathedral,<BR>not just american students, but all types of people, too. Live music some nights.<BR><BR><BR>

When I was there in 2000 I didn't have a car & really didn't need one. I did have a 'gitana' try to snatch my camera from inside a small shoulder bag. Fortunately I tied the zipper down, carried the bag crossed over my neck(rather than just over a shoulder) and inside I had the camera wrist strap clipped in to a loop in the bag. All these precautions paid off when I felt the young woman trying to undo the zipper. When I pulled away she and her 'partner' just gave me a dirty look and walked away.<BR><BR>The precautions seemed a little over the top initially but I was glad afterwards. Other than that one incident things were fine. I did keep my pasport and credit cards in a neck pouch and money in a clip in my front pocket (no wallet).<BR><BR>I loved Sevilla and felt very safe there. Elwood, I was near your age and traveled alone with minimal Spanish. I found many people to talk to including locals and other tourists from many countries. It's a very socialble country and it was easy to meet people.

I agree with the previous posters. Just do not leave your valuables inside your car and take the normal precautions. Sevilla is a nice city, I like a lot living here. There are many interesting places where you can go but I would say Sevilla is better seen in the morning or at the time the sun sets. I would suggest to stroll the narrow streets, since I believe this is a city for pedestrians, and the river banks. I do not think there are many expats here but a couple more of places where you can hear English spoken are:<BR><BR>Big Ben (Betis Street in Triana) or Madigan´s ( another Irish Pub located at Plaza de Cuba, close to the above mentioned )

Do not carry a 'purse/handbag' period, once you have seen one bump, grab, knock/shove/push down and run you will believe me too. Second, never leave anything you want to lose immediately after leaving it in your locked car. Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, or Switzerland, it happens everywhere more often than you can imagine...or any tourism spokesman will devulge...Policing here is not what you are used to anywhere in the USA.<BR><BR>DSC<BR>Zurich

We went to Flaherty's Irish pub one evening during our trip. It had a very fun atmosphere - lots of people in both the back room and at the bars. The food wasn't too bad either!

There are always guys on the streets who will "show you to a parking space". The guys are unauthorized but always flip them a couple of cien or else your chance of being broken into increases instantly. That's my tip.

This thread is very interesting to me. We honeymooned in Southern Spain in the fall of 2000. We also ditched our car upon arrival in Seville -- not because we were concerned about crime, but because it was the last stop on our trip and we knew we wouldn't need the car in the city, so why pay to park it?<BR><BR>I purposely did not take any real jewelry, including my engagement ring, to Spain. I carried a small pocketbook only at night. During the day, I carried a small backpack that could hold our map, pencil and other necessaries. We kept our camara and money close at hand. I think if you take ordinary precautions, including avoiding the gypsies who try to hand you rosemary, keeping jewelry and money out of sight, knowing where you're going and walking with a purpose, you'll be fine.<BR><BR>The funny thing to me is that we felt much safer in Seville than we did in the Jewish Quarter in Cordoba or the Albacin in Granada. The winding, deserted streets in both gave us the heebie-jeebies -- and we live in NYC! Trust your instincts -- if the hair on the back of your neck is up, you are probably in some danger.

We just returned from Spain and Portugal. 2 scams we experienced in Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Women approach you with a few leaves or pieces of grass in their hands and start talking to you in Spanish, apparently tell you your fortune ( I dont speak Spanish) and then demand money. They are very agressive. Second scam is men leading you to a parking place that is "secure" and demading up to 30 euros. These are public parking spots that they pretend to own. In both cases, a firm NO with no further eye contact, seems to send them looking for easier prey. But the first time they catch you by surprise.

we leave in the south of portugal and we go visit seville 4 or 5 times each year. you don't have problems if you don't leave anything in the car, travel with the doors closed.Parking in large undeground parks is secure, but expensive.When you go to visit the cathedral there is a lot of women to read your hand, just say no and go ahead. if they surroud you, say no and keep walking.The spanish is a nice people , the food is great.

Lisa; Jewish Quarter? It's called the Juderia but Jewish quarter sounds like there might be Jews there. There were once Jews there but they were expelled 500 years ago. HELLLLLOOOOOOO!