Spain - safety and pickpocketing - a query
 

My wife and I are planning a trip in March or April to Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Granada at a minimum) and Portugal. She is very concerned about the stories she has read about brazen pickpocketing and targeting of older (we are both 55+) tourists in Spain; as a result, she is thinking of turning our attention elsewhere. We were in Central Europe 3-4 years back and I was pick-pocketed in Prague on our first full day, even though I thought I was prepared. Hence the concern.
We don't have much time to finalize our plans. What do you all think?

I think you should be cautious wherever you go, but it shouldn't stop you from going, because you could really say that about any place. It doesn't matter what age you are, really (I was in my mid-30's when I got pick-pocketed in Rome). Yeah, you feel violated, and question yourself as to what you could have done to prevent it. On the other hand, I felt happy that is was just money and a credit card and that I wasn't physically hurt. When we were in Spain and Portugal -- albeit 10 years ago -- I didn't feel at all apprehensive. You do get hit up, especially in Lisbon, by panhandlers, sometimes on the aggressive side, but not that worried me. I was pretty good at repeating the word "NO!" numerous times. My husband, for some odd reason, kept getting hit up to by dope . . . as if!

Interestingly, I was much more concerned at the time about a bomb going off in Madrid, but decided if we kept making excuses, we'd never go anywhere!

So if it's someplace you've wanted to go to, don't let these concerns hold you back -- just remember to not walk around with a lot of cash, don't flash a fat wallet, keep all credit cards but one at the hotel in their safe, and you'll be just fine!

I have a wallet w/ a loop for my belt and then hang (the wallet) inside my pants-in front. I defy anyone one of them to pick my pocket or whatever. Paying for something tho, is quite dramatic.

We were in Barcelona last Oct. Had heard all the stories about the Ramblas being the pick-pocket capital of the world. Not an issue. Could not walk more than 100 meters without seeing police. I would take the normal precautions,that I would take in any city. As long as you pay attention to your surroundings,and the people arround you I would not be concerned. I was never concerned about safety walking around Barcelona. Read all about the scams, so you will recognize the when they come up, but don't lose sleep over it. Just be aware- just as you would be in any large city.

Sigh. Yes, they pick your pockets. It's your fault. Not an issue.
Who cares, you shouldn't.

one of you carry the $$....and no camera....keep the money loose in your pocket and one hand on it... pay attention..

we seniors are targets...

only take from the hotel the amount of cash you need on any one day....put a fake wallet in your back pocket..

We were pickpocketed (unsuccessfully) in Barcelona. We were in the subway, taking an escalator up, standing side-by-side. A man was in front of my wife fiddling with his watch band, and he dropped the watch at the last minute, as if some unintended accident occurred. Another man was behind my wife, and in the confusion, he got into her purse and got an empty glass case that he gave back to her--claiming that she must have dropped it in the confusion. I am telling the story to let others be aware of this particular method of pickpocketing.

We are over 55 and do not consider ourselves potential victims. We are not unduly cautious but aware. Maybe it because we are from NY and know how to lives in a city. Nothing has every happened to us in Madrid, Barcelona, or anywhere else and we have visited Spain 4 times in the last 10 years. Although during one trip during the late '80's we saw a number of street crimes in Sevilla.

Even though everyone about us screams tourist we walk with confidence and self-assurance.

In Barcelona we were having dinner in a sort of outdoor restaurant in a market called La Boqueria (I think that was the name.) My sister had given me her credit card and her passport, which I--ever paranoid--put in my money belt. A nice-looking young guy stopped by the table and asked how the foot was. We thought he was the waiter, until he disappeared around the corner. It was then my sister realized her purse was gone.

She did lose the camera which was in her purse, but it could have been worse.

I always keep my money and credit cards in my money belt, which in turn goes under my clothes.

I would never let fears of pickpocketing keep me from visiting Spain, which is a wonderful country. You just have to be careful.

We just had a crew mugged in Barcelona last week but hey,the week before the crew in Rio got attacked by gun thugs while on the bus going back to the airport. Who says that flying is dangerous?

I note Sobster's post, above. I'm a guy and we have some advantages in hiding valuables. I use the belt loop money holder for stuff I may need to get at, but probably not, during the course of a day, or to carry my cash reserves for multi-country visits (where I kand somewhere and need some of the local currency for taxi fare, etc (not a problem going from Euro country to Euro country of course). I've also purchased LL Bean's travel trousers with the hidden zipper front pocket and then keep only $10 or $15 of local currency loose in my pocket for lunches, coffee, etc). Travelsmith also sells trousers with zippered front pockets but the pockets are on the left front side and awkward to get into if you're not left-handed. I used them in the UK and switched back to LL Bean for a couple of subsequent trips.

You can go to London ....no wait there are also pickpockets....

You probably should elaborate what you meant by "I thought I was prepared." The pickpockets target people other than older tourists.

Looks like you have been on this forum since 2006. If you search the subject on pickpockets, you will find that there are several thoughts on this including some dogmatic ones.

Only you can determine which views are relevant to you.

I am not sure how you were "prepared" in Prague. Did you rely on trying to be aware about surroundings but you got distracted? Did you think being mentally aware of common pickpocket tactics was sufficient?

Some people think having a mental awareness is sufficient but others do not.

If you are not sure, you probably should take physical steps such as money belt, neck pouch, etc. to protect valuables. For the mental awareness camp, these steps are paranoia. But it is your trip and your valuables, not theirs, on the line.

Whether Spain has more pickpockets or not is also debatable. The answer is not really relevant. It is only relevant if it happens to you.

I travel assuming that someone will try to pick my pocket, snatch my wife's purse, or get into my day bag without me knowing about it.

I take the same precautions, regardless whether I am shopping in my home town, sightseeing in San Francisco, or on the beach in Barcelona.
Only as much cash as I can afford to lose. One spare CC in hotel safe. No valuables in outside pockets. Copy of passport and list of phone numbers to call if CC or debit card gets stolen in hotel (safe).
There is no such thing as traveling (or living) risk-free.

I also lived in NYC for most of my life in addition to being born there, and is my husband. If you are an older tourist in Spain, you will be targeted, whether Aduchamp realizes this or not.

It is not "debatable" whether Spain, in particular Barcelona and Madrid, have more pickpockets than other European capitals. They do. And your chances of being pickpocketed are higher. You will need to take more precautions than you do in San Francisco, where pickpocketing is far less likely to happen.

All I can tell huntley is that it doesn't stop me from going to Madrid, but I no longer consider Barcelona much worth it. I go to Barcelona for specific reasons, not as a relaxing vacation. Others who like Barcelona more than I do will obviously feel differently.

When I am in Barcelona, I use a wallet that straps right onto my hand to carry a very small amount of cash, one credit card and my hotel card-key. I carry everything else (guidebook, comb, kleenex) in an ordinary plastic bag, the kind used to bag your purchases in a drug store. I only carry disposable cameras when in Spain.

Huntley,

I hope you and your wife will go to Grenada. I think moneybelts or other secured places for your walking around money needs will protect you, and you should lock everything else in your hotel room safe. Don't carry around your passport.

Like I said, I still enjoy so much about Madrid and other parts of Spain (like Grenada and San Sebastian) that I don't let the pickpockets and scamsters deter me. Barcelona? eh.

Good grief.
Why would you be less careful in a city where *fewer* incidents of pickpocketing occur?
I never get the point of people who are more *relaxed* in Munich or Stockholm than in Barcelona or Rome.
Even if Barcelona had 10 times more pickpockets than Seattle, it would be nuts to waltz around Seattle with $300 cash and all your credit cards in a wallet in the outside pocket of your jeans.

Guess it depends on how cute your butt is and how well you waltz <G>

We have only been targeted twice - neither successful. In Rome, a young girl tried to put her hand in my husband's front pocket while boarding the metro. In Madrid, a nice and well-dressed young man started talking to us in a very crowded square and then "bumped into" my husband "accidentally" feeling his jacket pocket.

My niece, who was in college at the time, had something stolen in Barcelona and Venice. She clearly was not a senior.

Please note that Grenada is in the Caribbean and Granada is in Spain.

I have had over two dozen photographic exhibits, many with pictures of Spain. At the very least I carry one Nikon and a shoulder bag and have never had any trouble. I am extremely careful with my cameras, wherever I go. I remember being in the Alfama in Lisbon a number of years ago and many elderly ladies were coming out of the doors to warn me to be with my camera.