To ask if Barcelona is unsafe

[Thepinkyponkc]

I’m off to Barcelona with 13 friends (all women) 30-50s age. I haven’t been for a few years , but when I did we’ve never had any safety problems with muggings etc and I had a handbag , phone and money in there . Quite a few people are telling me it’s now rife for mugging- phones, Jewellery etc. Is this the case? I was planning on taking a shoulder cross over bag and putting my things in it but I’m worried now I might have to take an old phone and hide my cc down my bra 🤣 is it really this extreme?!

I know of two people who got robbed there, including one quite burly bloke.

Barcelona has always been notorious for pick pockets and distraction muggings. However I've been a few times and never been mugged or pick pocketed.

Take usual big city precautions - use a zip up cross body bag, keep it across you and on your lap on tubes and sitting at bars, don't wander around with your phone in your hand, be aware of your surroundings in small side streets, don't engage in strangers who approach you brandishing maps or asking questions at ATMs.

It’s worse than most other European cities for pickpocketing I think. Tbh it’s the only place I’ve ever caught someone trying to get my phone and I’ve been all over south east Asia/ Europe and North Africa.

I went 22 years ago and someone warned my then FIL about not putting his camcorder down. Bloody thing

I had never experienced that anywhere else.

We were there some years ago and had a bag stolen from under our table. It was a distraction theft. Somebody knocked into me I turned round, and when I turned back the bag was gone

I was mugged in Madrid but not Barcelona. There were many drug dealers loitering about in plain view. Stick together and you'll be absolutely fine ... some of the streets are like rabbit warrens, so it does help if a few of you have a good sense of direction!
It's a fab city and I'd definitely return.

My ILs got mugged there just before Christmas, outside the airport. FIL (who is 80) actually got dragged along the floor as he tried to hold on to his bag 😔🙄) Judging from this and the other stories shared here, it is somewhere you need to have your wits about you, but I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time, it’s a great city. I went on a day trip there once (from the South of France) and had no issues but that was about 20 years ago.

My son was watching a documentary on pick pockets in Barcelona earlier today! Very interesting viewing

Definitely smelly drains! So odd.

I’ve been recently. Took sensible precautions and didn’t feel unsafe at any time. Everyone wears their bag in front and keeps bag on lap in restaurants.

My elderly dad had his pocket picked in his wheelchair, took his wallet. He was so upset.

A friend had her bag stolen just after arriving last year too, with passport etc in it. Said the police station was full of tourists reporting being robbed and spend hours getting an emergency passport.

Be vigilant, I've been there a couple of times without issue but it's not nice enough for me to want to go back to such a hot spot.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I’ll take an old phone and a cross body bag- I feel ridiculous saying this but I always take a hairbrush and lipstick
out with me and I hope they don’t take those 🤣

I think this will be my 4th time visiting the city but only just heard about pickpockets being rife.

Be vigilant, don't take anything expensive, keep money, cards, passport well protected, cross body bag zipped at all times, back up your phone and password protect, better still take a cheap phone with minimum information on it in case it gets nicked.

The above is general advice, not restricted to BCN.

Beautiful city, have a lovely time.

No worse than London in my experience. I travelled for work solo and walked about by myself.

My DH was on a stag do - night out down the Ramblas and did get some women trying to pickpocket him at 2 in the morning. So I think the touristy areas are prime spots, but they are areas I’d usually avoid anyway. A bit like Leicester Square at 2am, lots of dodgy people targeting gormless tourists.

Have been to Barcelona many times and never had any issues but we live in London so we're used to being a bit extra vigilant in town. I wear a light crossover bag that is hidden under a coat/jacket.

This exact thing happened to my friend in McDonalds in Rome! Before the days of mobile phones so it was his wallet and camera…

The only place we've been pickpocketed. Great city, loved our holiday, but the pickpocketing is rife. DH knew it was happening but didn't want to escalate. Luckily, he carries a decoy wallet with €20 and a defunct IKEA card so that's what they got....

Just be careful, don't be obvious with cards/cash/cameras etc.

Went last year. Never felt unsafe and no issues!

Pickpockets have been a huge issue in Barcelona for years. About 35 years ago our teacher got pickpocketed when we were on a school trip, about 15 years ago I had my purse nicked out of my bag getting on a train because I was distracted with the kids. But it's a great city!

I think it’s more pickpocketing than anything else, so just be aware of your bag/ belongings. Don’t walk about with your passport in your bag.

I wouldn’t class that as a form of danger though. Just annoyance/ hassle.

My friend lives there and when we visited last year she showed us her backpack. It has the zip at the back of the bag so can’t be opened.

pickpocketing has always been more prevalent than where I lived in Spain so be aware.

it definitely has an edge in some areas but we love it there and happily strolled around with our DD

I don’t feel any less safe in Barcelona than I do in London. Just be sensible & don’t make yourself an obvious target while in the big tourist hotspots & you will be fine. It’s a great city.

My top tip : Try Moritz, one of the local beers. It’s a Czech style pilsner, distinctively hoppy & refreshing, unlike most Spanish brews.

I have many Catalan police officer friends, and I visit 5 times a year. They inform me that: The airport train is bad for bag snatches as doors shut, some one will put a coat on the rack above seats next to a bag and grab the lot and run as doors shut, have seen this myself. The bus is safe. bag snatches from the cafes are common. ramblas is pretty dire anyway and is a hot spot for snatches and pick pockets, has been for years. a lot of the smaller side streets off barrio xino used to be bad but ok now. violent muggings are very rare.

My DH had his wallet and passport stolen. He had to go to the British Consulate to get an emergency passport and the place was full of people in a similar situation. Do be really careful with your things

Only place (and we are well travelled) we've ever had an attempted mugging-also got my bank card swallowed for no logical reason at all by a bank cash machine, and I know many others who have had similar .

I lived there and had my phone stolen twice, once out of my hand as I was unlocking my front door, and the other on the metro in rush hour. When I lived in one of the old town neighbourhoods I'd wake up most nights to the sound of screaming as someone chased after a pickpocket. The pickpockets operate in gangs with young children being exploited, and they know the warren like streets inside out. The police don't do much because there's no prosecution if it's worth less than €500. All that said it's a very safe city for it's size and the pickpocketing is very rarely violent. Just take normal precautions that you would in any big city: make sure you never leave anything valuable on tables when eating, don't look at your phone on the metro when it's pulling into stations, don't walk down the street with your phone in your hand (or in your back pocket!), don't leave any belongings alone on the beach, and be really wary of standing around watching street performers.