Interested in Spain or Italy (hitting major cities in each Madrid/barcelona/seville or venice/florence/rome), can someone tell me which one is safer? I keep reading about pickpockets in Italy and muggings in spain. going in the winter, is crime worse or better then w/ less tourists out?

My family and I just did a 30 day tour of France, Italy and Spain. All three have crime. But the worse that we all saw was in Italy. I can tell you the thieves are very good at what they do. 6 people from our group were mugged right in front of the vatican in Rome. And another group were mugged in Florence. And watch out for those gypsies and their kids. Those kids are trained thieves. One of them snatched my camera, but I ran after him, and grabbed it out of his grubby little hands. And if you complain to the police, they just shrug and do absolutely nothing. It was a disgrace.

Just returned from 3 weeks in Italy. Saw not a bit of crime. Had heard and read the horror stories. We traveled carefully, with possessions in carefully tended bags/purses/fanny packs---and had no problems of any criminal nature.

We have a saying in Brazil: <BR> <BR>"If one looks for it, one is likely finding it". ;-) <BR> <BR>If you don't want to take the risks, stay home. Otherwise, take some wise precautions and go whatever pleases you more. <BR> <BR>Surlok

I visited Italy in June, with my family. And I saw plenty of crime. Numerous people on the streets of Rome were pickpocketed. And we saw a tiny vehicle drive past a couple and snatch her purse, in a blink of an eye. We weren't sure of what we had seen until she started to scream in french. We all hid our belongings carefully. And even though nothing happened to us, it did to several people who were just trying to enjoy their vacation. So don't tell me that there is no crime in Italy. Either you are in denial, or just plain blind.