Spanish pickpockets

Not in Europe on the whole, but it's a good bet in Barcelona,

Confused Americans are an easy target OP!

Carry mousetraps in your pockets

Two tips I picked up single female backpacker thru sth America (notorious theft on transport for example) & travelling tube in London where I saw bag snatches a few times :

1) get in the habit of carrying things like yr kindle/ digital camera / phone & basically covetable tech items in NONDESCRIPT & also even NON luggage / tourist / traveller type bags + think about how u casually carry stuff in yr home environment ...AND if u can ( call the fashion police QUICK!) come at even plastic bags / some solid plain plastic bag with those good solid carry handles / very cheap looking plain shopper bag + go neutral canvas shopper say if yr style sensitivity in fashionable Barcelona ?!

2) think about how you can be more situationally aware in general ( this applies home city too for some of us ?!)

-.ie ,-LOOP that bag round yr ankles as you sit cafe table / be aware placed inside behing even under you if poss;

- choose " non luggage" style " local-looking" bags satchels etc and those with strapping long enough to be worn cross body & ssme while you overnight transport travel/sleeping or in outdoor non secure areas like plazas cafe stations awaiting connections etc

- situate yourself whenever possible in cafes on transport in non easily accessible positioning for the opportunist thief & theft / quick grab stuff - eg away from doorways / entry exit points / facing approachers etc

Finally - bon voyage. & if you have misfortune - use it as I did & saw other travellers learn - to travel light minimal & under the radar a whole lot more ...

I appreciate this not for everyone & some ( luxe piggy) demographics on the DL but may be useful input some stuff / some of you :)

Crime is rampant

French here. We tend to have quite a lot of problems with Rroma kids and guys from the suburbs, especially in Paris. Tourists are easy targets, Chinese in particular since they're known to have a lot of cash with them and I guess Americans because they always carry loads of stuff. My advise would be to take the minimum and choose a small purse you can keep close to you (not a backpack or carry it in front of you). That sucks, i know.

Do yourself and everyone else a favour - stay at home.

He's a tip, leave you valuables out of sight. How hard is that?

Are any countries in the EU addressing the rampant problem with the Roma people; crime, prostitution, drugs, etc?

Europe with its weak-kneed, coddling laws and guilt-trip attitude are heaven for gypsies ripoff artists and locals with no social conscience, like Arabs in France. If you're sniffing at what I just wrote, go to the Eiffel Tower and hang out there a little while. I dare you to keep sniffing after that -- I doubledare you mothafucka!!!

"lived ,& learnt to tell tales"

but not in English, apparently.

In Bcn I've seen pickpockets a lot, not in Madrid. Don't take too much money with you, when you go out. Don't get drunk and be careful, like in any city.

[quote]Europe with its weak-kneed, coddling laws and guilt-trip attitude are heaven for gypsies ripoff artists and locals with no social conscience, like Arabs in France. If you're sniffing at what I just wrote, go to the Eiffel Tower and hang out there a little while. I dare you to keep sniffing after that -- I doubledare you mothafucka!!!

Yeah yeah yeah, Heinrich. We get it. Brown people are icky.

Now go play with your SS Officer dolls and let the adults talk.

Gypsies are a pain in Swiss cities. Whatever you carry on your person, it should be in zipped, interior pockets or backs and under a layer, so under your coat or rain coat. Do not carry ANYTHING in open pants pocket. The gypsy kids are short and they go for the lower body. They will try to trip you while you are walking.

Train stations in all european cities are thief zones. DO NOT fiddle daddle with your expensive electronics.

If you must have an expensive smart phone, get a case that takes a lanyard or strap. Put the strap around your wrist at all times the smart phone is in use. They really do just come by and rip it out of people's hands. Wont happen with a strap.

If you must use your pad or laptop in a public place, go to a place where you see business people. Not around TRAIN STATIONS unless its the lobby or bar of a good hotel. As with the smart phone, you can get a gizmo to attach a cable to your pad or laptop and just keep that machine attached to you.

I think you are a FOOL to leave your shit unattended in the USofA, as well.

This is a sad post, because 20 years ago, Switzerland was a paradise and you left your doors and bikes unlocked. Its done.

That's because Barcelonans are not Spanish but Catalans. Why wouldn't they steal from someone so stupid?

R9 Are any countries in the EU addressing the rampant problem with the Roma people; crime, prostitution, drugs, etc?

—Anonymous

I don't know how much Roma are involved in prostitution and drugs. Not their rackets in Switzerland at least.

Europeans can't do much about the Roma because they have the same right to roam around Europe as other Europeans. One problem in Switzerland is their caravans. They set up in a field and the farmer and that municipality can't do much. It's outrageous. I think there is an unofficial rotation of sorts, where each canton and each municipality puts up with them for bit before they finally chase them away on some pretext (could take months) and then they have "done their bit" for a few years and are free of ROMA. However there are benevolent types who will give them a fallow field and an electrical hookup. This pisses off a lot of nearby folks, of course.

The swiss cities spent a FORTUNE trying to do some social welfare for the kids, setting up special programs to get them into local schools. The kids never last longer than a year, and sometimes half that.

I get that its their culture but its also Europe and ROMA adults are often criminal child abusers. NO school, little medical care, lots of work, and the work is often theft.

It's complicated to address the problem since we're talking mostly about homeless children exploited by mafias. The best we can do for now is put the minors at school as much as we can and help the families to integrate but that's quite complicated. Due to many factors they have developped an outsider culture and it will take time for them to understand that they can live here peacefully without resorting to theft. But as long as they will be moved around from an unsanitary camp to another it won't happen. I think that when the first generation who has been to school reaches adulthood things will be different.

Well in Switzerland, the school insertions haven't worked. They are back to the drawing board.

I do agree that one generation of ROMA kids is going to get hep to their lost opportunities and ruined futures and somehow revolt on their parents.

Meanwhile, I've grown to detest the kids behaviour. Its straight out of old stereotypes we have of Bombay. Several times I've been swarmed by those little gnats. Luckily, I also find this amusing and while I am kicking and shaking them off me, I am also smiling and laughing at their faces and they are smiling too. Its perverse. But maybe because I smile and am not afraid (because as I said, all my shit is packed pretty well out of their grasp), thats why they give up.

If there were knives involved, lord, I don't want to think about that.... So far I have never heard of ROMA being violent in their crimes...

Just go to Japan, no crime.

Roma have been a problem in Europe for the past 1,500 years. They have their own culture, their own way of life and are not interested in White European culture. Several European countries have attempted to "integrate" the Roma, but have failed. Now the Roma are pretty much left alone to exploit their children as thieves and sex workers. Every once in a while, there's a police/childrens' services swoop to "clean things up", but it doesn't last for long. The authorities mostly turn a blind eye, do nothing, so long as the Roma prey in the main on tourists

A friend got beaten up in Barcelona by a pair of thugs who wanted his camera. He suffered permanent damage to one knee. This is someone who craves attention, though, so who knows what he might have been doing that drew the thugs to him. I'm not exactly blaming the victim here, and I wasn't there, but don't dress to get mugged.

They're not violent they're just kids... I have a few families living around my neighborhood and sometimes I bring them food for the children. When I was a child we had a few gypsy families around (french ones, not rroma) and well, they were indeed not fond of school. But that's a people that is still terribly discriminated against, and people forgot how they were put in concentration camps not so long ago. This leaves traces.

Suburbs guys are a whole other subject.

Very true. Datalounge won't let me spell the Spanish word for pickpocket, but they knocked me down twice in Barcelona. Avoid the subway.

Roma abuse their children by sending them into the streets to commit crimes instead of sending them to school. They are not homeless. They are nomads. The authorities should take their kids away.

R25 -- I'll be traveling with my 77 year old mom. I have absolutely NO intention on using the Barcelona metro/subway. She's pretty savvy, so I think she'll be okay with how to handle a purse. Are these thieves all over, or is it that the problem is more limited to the downtown (Ramblas) tourist zones? What I guess I'm really concerned about is that if I'm reading an ebook while say eating a steak, the minute I put down my device to cut a piece, someone will steal my phone/tablet?

From what I've read, these aren't Roma kiddies, but adults (or at least older teens).

You need this:

The only place I was mugged was in Switzerland. Turned out to be a French-German brat, not Romany. I despised the country already but had to stay 5 unscheduled extra nights in Lucerne to get my papers sorted. Cost a pretty penny and had to get relative back home to pay for accommodation over phone by credit card. Lake Geneva. My God is that lake boring.

No backpacks, Keens, walking shoes or sneakers of the kind you wouldn't ordinarily wear at home. Dress in normal clothes (no nylon sports shirts, hiking gear, baseball caps, all-weather outdoors jackets) styled up a bit because Spanish men are well groomed. Plan your route in advanced so you don't look too obvious about with a maps and GPS.

And/or this for your phone, etc.:

What's a "keen"?

I'm more horrified at the idea that even at not-so-touristy cafes and restaurants there are thieves everywhere.

[quote]What I guess I'm really concerned about is that if I'm reading an ebook while say eating a steak, the minute I put down my device to cut a piece, someone will steal my phone/tablet?

Perhaps it's time to train yourself to eat a meal without the distraction of an ebook. You say you're going to be traveling with your mother. Are you unable to carry on a dinner conversation?

Is it really necessary to use electronic devices in public when you know they attract thieves?

Keens

R33 -- okay perhaps the steak was a poor example, but we might not go everywhere together.

[quote]Lake Geneva. My God is that lake boring.

You should have gone to Lake Como. It puts on a floor show every night, complete with dancing boys.

In Madrid they tried to steal my backpack TWICE in the same day, in different touristic spots. The first one was a homeless man, the second time a street kid. And no, i didn't look like an "ugly american". This happened in 2000.

R29, and Lake Lucerne wasn't?

R15 Catalonia IS Spain; Catalan is basically a Spanish dialect even though they claim it's a proper language. It's not. Several other regions in Europe want secession, just think about Italy: they all detest each other (and they do speak completely different languages).

R13 Catalans ARE "brown", duh. You can find "white" Spaniards in Castilla, Basque Country and even in Andalusia (where many are of Arab origins, but not everybody). Catalans are dark skinned.

Gypsy kids are a calamity, dumb tourists from outside Europe don't recognise them (but a gipsy kid can recognise a dumb tourist) and think they're French or Spanish or whatever. They're particularly pesky in Rome, they are sent pick pocketing because, being underage, they are untouchable and the Italian fraus start screaming and being all pc when somebody addresses the problem: "they're only kids! They're victims! Down with racism! Is their culture, we must be understanding! Let's help them!". They may be just kids but they're just educated for being little sociopath pieces of shit and this is not going to change.

R17 these kids are not homeless and are not exploited by mafias (you are confusing yourself with Brazilian "meninos de rua "), they are an active part of their gypsy community.

R39, Catalan is absolutely not "basically a Spanish dialect." It is an Occitano-Romance language, and has its roots in Old Occitan. Spanish is Ibero-Romance.

Thanks OP. I've crossed Spain off of places I want to visit.

R14 I've been in Switzerland many times and never had any problems, very peaceful streets. R41 The guys are hot and hungry for action and Madrid is stunningly beautiful.

R40 yeah, whatever. It basically is a Spanish dialect anyway.

Btw sorry for my horrendous hortography

Ortography* DAMN

In Paris they are homeless. There is living in a camp and living in a slum under a bridge. French gypsies usually live in RVs and move their camps once or twice a year. The Romanian Rromas who have been arriving recently are not nomads. Their families live in villages in Romania and they stopped being nomads generations ago. I have seen little children sleeping on mattresses on the sidewalk, under the rain. Maybe caring makes me a "frau" but I can just walk away.

The Brits made a full program about it.

[quote]They set up in a field and the farmer and that municipality can't do much.

Why can't they do much? The farmers can't kick someone off their own property? They don't have trespassing laws in Switzerland?

Make a copy of your passport and leave the original at the hotel. When riding the subway, make sure that your wallet is on the front pocket and be careful if there are a lot of people around. They usually work in pairs. Do not ever, ever, ever let a gypsy woman with a baby, or with flowers, come near you. They also work in groups and your wallet will disappear fast. Try to avoid looking like a lost American tourist, do not be too flashy, be careful when you sit down at a cafe or a terrace.... I have been to Spain many times, I have never experienced a robbery or anything stolen. However, a friend just came back from Madrid and his backpack was stolen (bar). Last year, another friend had his wallet stolen in Paris (two guys came and pretended to be lost....) Be careful and remember you do not need seven credit cards, your passport, all your insurance cards, your 4 ID and X,Y,Z in your wallet when you travel.

Always wear your money belt and tell your mum to avoid molly parties with skinheads.

R29 The only place I was mugged was in Switzerland. Turned out to be a French-German brat, not Romany. I despised the country already but had to stay 5 unscheduled extra nights in Lucerne to get my papers sorted. Cost a pretty penny and had to get relative back home to pay for accommodation over phone by credit card. Lake Geneva. My God is that lake boring.

There is no such thing as "French-German" brat. What does that even mean? You mean "Swiss-German" - as are the citizens of Lucern. Which is on LAKE LUCERN. Or "Suisse-Romand" - the French speaking citizens of Geneva, the Swiss city that is on Lake Leman, known to you idiots as LAKE GENEVA. ???????

But yeah, tourists are targeted in Switzerland, I concur.

At to R47 - when the field is fallow, the ROMS will claim squatters rights and there is a bureaucratic process to evict them. Same as people who occupy uninhabited buildings. The police cannot move quickly to evict. Also as I said there seems to be some unspoken political arrangements among the municipalities and cantons that keeps the Rom camps circulating so everyone must put up with them for a few months but not longer. When its your town or villages turn, you have lost that lottery.

Now some famers who are humanitarians will offer it up, but the police will have shit fits because the Rom make a complete toxic mess of everything and they don't clean up after themselves when they leave. That this is an outrage is ironic because Swiss people really don't clean up after themselves. Rather, someone is PAID to clean up everything, everywhere. When hooligans march through the streets to the sports stadiums, they are followed by city clean up crews a few hundred meters behind them. Everything is spic in span within minutes.

This problem did not exist here until after 1975

[quote]when the field is fallow, the ROMS will claim squatters rights and there is a bureaucratic process to evict them. Same as people who occupy uninhabited buildings.

I guess this is one of the major differences between the US and Europe. In the US if someone came onto your property, you, as the owner, would have the completely legal right to escort them off by gunpoint. Trespassing is a big no-no here and taken very seriously. Hell, if they won't leave you are within your rights to shoot their asses. The Castle Doctrine, I believe. This may vary state from state.

What changed after 1975 in your opinion R51?

I was in Spain some years ago and was okay but then I was staying with family over there who knew what to look out for and where not to go. We were accosted in train stations a lot but, oddly, they were No. Euro or Brit 20-something hippie types, asking for handouts or they had some sob story about needing money to get home. Relative just said "druggies". Some beggar types would come up at outdoor cafes. We were told to make no eye contact and ignore them. Frankly, I'm surprised the police don't do more to round them up and keep them from bothering people as they eat. Seemed to be lots of cops around not doing much.

My relative who was young during the Franco years would say "this shit didn't happen then. You could walk around at night in your furs and jewels. No one would bother you."----I guess not.

Exactly r53, we have been told by a Swedish man (str8 guy), and American man, and a Dutch eldersister and many others who lived and worked in Spain under Franco that one could walk any street any hour of the day or night with no fear of crime whatever.

After 1975 the NWO criminals began to take over the government and they still rule today.

This is progress?

What is NWO R54?

Apples and oranges. Sure one can "walk the streets safely" in dictatorships. But......

I roughed up two Roma kids who tried to fuck with me at night in Paris a few years ago. I don't know why I just lost it but I did and ended up nearly choking one out after kicking up the other. I'm six foot and a half, they had to be a foot shorter than me. I felt bad about it for awhile but this thread is making me feel vindicated about it again

Dutch eldersister (now sadly RIP) also said that she had more and hotter sex under Franco than she ever had under 'democracy'.

(She preferred parks, T rooms, cinemas. etc)

Well, I lived in Spain as a teenager in 1975, and there were terrorist bombings and guys a couple of years older than me carrying machine guns on the street. Thanks, Franco. But, hey, the machine gun kids were police/military and if I'd owned a fucking fur, I guess I could have paraded around in it. Whoopee!

Oh, and MPC always licks the ass of the fascists and the Catholic church-- no surprise there.

Calm down R59, No one is defending Franco just saying a dictatorship does seem to stop petty crime.

Mary! and who mentioned MPC?

r59 = CIA Intel propoganda

r54, is MPC. At least that's what the signature says. And I've read been exposed to her creepy right wing/ church worship since I've been coming to Datalounge.

And I can't be surprised that her "Dutch eldersister" is dead. Their life expectancy is 80.1 years, and that's younger than MPC.

Please, Barcelona is no different than any large American city. I've spent plenty of time there and never had an issue. If you can navigate NYC without incident, you can deal with Barcelona.

I'm curious about something, why do american tourists dress like they're on a camping trip when they visit a city?

Some of us don't R64 but if you think that's bad you oughta see them here but.....I met a French guy overseas who was wearing old jeans and a tshirt so not all Europeans are good dressers.

R39 Catalan is a language and Catalans aren't brown, they're whites.

[quote] Lake Leman, known to you idiots as LAKE GENEVA.

"Lake Geneva" is the English name of Lac Léman, just like "Genfersee" is its German name. There's no such thing as "Lake Leman" (just like no German speaker would ever say "Lemansee" - people would think he's crazy, if they even realized what the fuck he's talking about).

Lake Como is really Lago di Como.

Since George Clooney moced there the locals refer to it as "Lago di Homo"!

[quote] Dutch eldersister (now sadly RIP) also said that she had more and hotter sex under Franco than she ever had under 'democracy'.

Perhaps Dutch eldersister should have stayed in Holland.

[quote]be careful when you sit down at a cafe or a terrace

True. My neighbors went to Paris for their vacation and while sitting at an outdoor cafe they were swarmed by young pretty teenage girls who were hanging all over them asking for pictures with the Americans. When they went to pay their bill everything was gone--phones, wallets, passports, cash.

Thanks - it'll be too cold for outdoor dining in November in Spain. Sounds as though the Barcelona metro is about the worst as far as crime goes. I have a camera strap that should work well to hook into my travel wallet and belt, which I'd keep in my front pocket.

The generalized comments about Roma here are appalling. If you substitute the word Mexicans for Roma, you fall into the category of a Donald Trump. There are many Roma who live ordinary, productive lives, are good citizens, and do not represent the stereotype others have described.

R51 Lousy joke, not funny. Franco's years were a nightmare.

My worst experience with bag snatchers was not in Europe but in Buenos Aries, Argentina. When I would sit in an outdoor café, the restaurant owner would strap my bag to to the chair using plastic ties to prevent someone from snatching the bag. Each time this happened, I was surprised, because I consider myself to be a savvy New Yorker, educated in the street smarts necessary to survive in tough cities.

Where did you live in Spain under Franco, r73?

R72 - where, exactly? How many?

omg that video at R44 is unsettling. WTF is wrong with the Spanish government? They only jail pickpockets who steal 400 or more Euros per steal? The rest are just subject to fine. As mentioned in the video, pickpockets in Spain have learned they can play the system. If they steal less than 400 Euros and are only fined 100, they still gain a couple hundred Euro! There were some guys in the video who were arrested over 20 times and they're allowed to keep doing what they do!

oops meant to say the video at R46

Oh, and for the American badasses amongst us, please remember that "self-defense," kicking someone's ass if they try to steal your wallet, does not exist in Europe (or at least, Italy). And you could be prosecuted for assaulting a thief.

My best tip: Keep some money in your pockets (use this to pay for small things), but everything else in a wallet in an interior jacket pocket that you don't take out in front of people.

I've never been robbed, but a friend of mine (man, black belt in some martial art) was robbed in a park in Barcelona. He was by himself, sat down on a bench, and in an instant, two Roma thugs sat on either side of him (one with a knife). They stole $400.

Another friend I know was robbed in the train in Switzerland. She had left her luggage at the end of the car, and when she went to grab it at the end of her trip, it was gone.

R72 has never been robbed by Roma. I have. In Italy and France. Roma are a social plague.

In Italy, the Roma are terrible. They don't live normal lives in any sense, since they refuse to apply for statehood, citizenship, get papers, send their children to school or any other "normal" behavior.

[quote]Another friend I know was robbed in the train in Switzerland. She had left her luggage at the end of the car, and when she went to grab it at the end of her trip, it was gone.

Same thing happened to me on the train from Venice to Florence. I put my luggage with everyone else's by the entrance to the car. Went back half an hour later to get something out of my suitcase, and it was gone.

[quote]And you could be prosecuted for assaulting a thief.

C'mon, really? That's madness.

[quote]You should have gone to Lake Como. It puts on a floor show every night, complete with dancing boys.

Now you know why I have home there

We know of the following situatia from an informed friend: An airplane pilot was walking through a rough part of NYC maybe 30 years ago. He was jumped and robbed and it really pissed him off.

He went back there a week later with a .38. He got mugged again but this time he 'dispached' the criminals instantly with his .38, and went home. Thankfully he was never discovered but he noted that there were no more muggings in that area thereafter.

I was going to take a family vacation in Spain (with two teenagers), but because of all the reported crime against tourists, we chose Italy instead. The kids really wanted to go to Barcelona, but I couldn't risk it since they like to go off on their own and explore. Being teens, they are naive, careless and impulsive. I had seen and read too much about the pick pocket plague in Barcelona. Officials in Spain don't want to do anything to solve the problem? Fine. I'll take my tourist dollars elsewhere.

Well that was stupid, r86. A lot of this is just sensationalism. As someone posted up thread - it's no different than being aware of your surroundings in any American city.

R87 No, it's not "just sensationalism". It's the unfortunate reality of being a tourist in Western Europe, especially in cities where Roma thieves operate freely. I haven't been in the US in a while, but I don't remember being at an ATM, withdrawing money and immediately being surrounded by a swarm of thieves. Or walking through the Rome bus station and a Roma kid walking behind me helping himself to the contents of my backpack. The Italian police were right there watching the kid steal and did nothing.

R86 has the right idea. Spend your tourist dollars where the authorities are concerned about tourist safety.

I was in Barcelona four months ago and I was robbed of my money and cell phone. I wasn't physically assaulted and this experience hasn't discouraged me from travelling internationally. In October, I am travelling to Vietnam to visit a friend who teaches English there. I need to be more careful and aware of my surroundings.

R88 is correct and R87 is terribly naive, spouting a worn out cliche, "it can happen anywhere". Of course it can, but crimes against tourists are BY FAR much more likely to happen in Barcelona than in any American city.

In the US, you do not get swarmed by thieves at ATM's. You can sit at a cafe in NYC and not have to worry that your packages will disappear if they aren't nailed down or attached to your body. There are no armies of homeless children roaming the streets looking for victims. Further, criminals are prosecuted here. If a thief is caught, they don't just pay a fine and go free---out on the streets stealing from another tourist within an hour.

I'm in Buenos Aires right now, visiting from California. I read all the horror stories about not flashing around expensive stuff. Maybe because it's off-season, but I feel fairly safe throughout the city.

Of course, I dress to fit in and wear my nylon messenger bag with the strap diagonally across my chest and keep my arm over it in crowds and on my lap in the subway. My iPone is in a non-descript case and you really can't tell what kind it is.

I also spent my life in big cities and have finely honed street smarts.

Hey, I had a plan for dealing with the Roma but you PC types prevented me from completing it so quit your complaining!

R92 Reinhard Heydrich was obsessed with exterminating Europe's Jews, not Roma.

R93 the elimination of the gypsies was within the scope of the Final Solution.

R94 No, it wasn't. Heydrich was the mastermind of Wansee, his sole purpose the extermination of Europe's Jews.

Got this thread is no good for a rainy sunday afternoon.

I simple pocket T worn as an undershirt is a great place to store lightweight/important things like passports and cash.

I had a close call at a train station in Amsterdam years ago, and as soon as I realized what was going down I shouted "HEY!!!" at the top of my lungs. They dropped my little backpack and walked away.

I put razor blades facing up inside a fake wallet when I was in Rome. A gypsy kid slashed his hand badly, began screaming and the police came over and laughed at him.

[quote] Yeah yeah yeah, Heinrich. We get it. Brown people are icky. Now go play with your SS Officer dolls and let the adults talk.

Thanks, this proves my point for me perfectly. Of course there's the immediate assertion of racism -- has to be one because Europe is basically SJW Heaven and we know how SJWs love their identity politics.

And unless you let thugs, pickpocket artists, scammers and other thieves run amok, you're a nazi.

So enjoy your safe and secure visit to European cities everyone!

R98, your story flies in the face of what R79 wrote.

Tramps, Gypsies and Thieves!

For all those who say "You have to be careful everywhere. ALL cities are like that ...": nonsense! In most of the world you can leave your bag at your feet or on the chair next to you, and not have it stolen. There aren't roving gangs of pickpockets either in most places.

Nice place like CH are quite safe.

R72 no there aren't. Let me guess, you're American.

As I posted upthread, I beat the fuck out of two Roma teenagers in Paris. I'm wary of getting physical with pikeys, because they are fucking mental, but I brought up gypsies to my brother yesterday after this thread, and he reminded me of another incident where I'd thrown coffee at a teenager who was following us! Some 10 years ago maybe. Hah!

My mother -- who is 5'3" and about 100lbs -- went on vacation with my dad to Italy and when Gypsies were attempting to pick pocket my dad, she saw and started screaming like a crazy woman "Get away from him or I'll kill you!!!" They ran away like their hair was on fire.

I've lived in Portugal, France and Spain and my advice when travelling is pretty simple: avoid dressing like a tourist. American tourists are damned easy to spot - they're usually the ones with the knee-length board-shorts or cargo shorts, some loud t-shirt from A&F and for some *bizarre* reason, they have a predilection for splashing USA flags all over their clothing and bags. Brits are similar - loud, obviously-dressed and pretty much easy prey.

I don't ever wear loud shirts, shorts, or American flag items at home, let alone abroad. thanks for playing, R107.

[quote] If a thief is caught, they don't just pay a fine and go free---out on the streets stealing from another tourist within an hour.

Hell, if you suspect a thief here and are in certain states, you can blow them away and not even go to trial.

In Italy, no one is allowed to carry a knife, let alone a gun.

[quote]USA flags all over their clothing and bags

WTF are you talking about, R107? I can't imagine this unless you were at an olympic event.

My least favourite work colleague watched THE WAY with Martin Sheen and hotfooted it to the walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain to work out his midlife crisis. "The Camino Will Provide" is the catch cry among many American pilgrims online. He kept us all up to date on Facebook.

On the bus to Pamplona his backpack was slashed and hiking poles stolen. He bought new stuff at St-Jean-Pied-De-Port. After nearly killing himself crossing the Pyrenees (just like Emilio Estevez in the movie!) when he ran out of water and overnighted in a shit filled mountain hut that was used as a discrete toilet. At the next hostel, he awoke to find his boots stolen. Possibly a good thing as was beset by crippling blisters and had to take a bus to Pamplona to buy new ones. There he reserved a bed but his items were thrown onto the floor by a Dutch cyclist who he found sleeping, unwashed, on his bunk. Post boot shopping he was mugged outside the cathedral by Roma. Two young Artful Dodgers relieved him of his smartphone in his inside jacket pocket.

Also, he expected leisurely meals of locally sourced bread, cheese, fresh fruit, sausage and wine. The pilgrim meals had copious wine accompanied by limp lettuce, fries and ice cream.

Long story short he didn't make it to Santiago, but made his way home in Leon after too many nights with homeless Spaniards who stayed in the often free pilgrim accommodation to be beg and after being set on by Roma 4 more times.

Highly recommend Pacsafe gear. Have traveled the world with it and have never had an incident.

here are some clever pickpocket techniques you should all learn about to try and avoid the same thing happening to you:

Avoid looking like a tourist. Petty crime is the only way residents of 'trendy cities' in Europe to get rid of loud-mouthed annoying tourists. Remember: we hate you all, you're in a city, not in a zoo.

Despite his fuckwit attitude, R114 is secretly happy about those "annoying tourists" because the Roma pick THEIR pocket instead of his.

We are moving our money out of this 3rd world hell hole,

It's kind of funny that this thread only has a "travel" tag when there are so many political misconceptions and ignorance first and foremost on this post rather than getting Rick Steve's type of information. I especially love how MPC prefers organizational/institutional/governmental; violence and simple murder for such horrible civil infractions as speaking one's own language on the street or making a small, careful criticism of civil authorities run by the sociopath Franco who saw pacifist civil disobedience on par with murder, rape or kidnapping that his "ejercito" was responsible for over "enforcement" the years without due process. The Argentine Junta did not develop its policies of "los deparecidos" all on its own.

So do people still use traveler's cheques? Forgive me- I haven't been out of the US since 97.

[quote]We are moving our money out of this 3rd world hell hole,

Sweetie darling, how on earth do you keep that much cash stashed in your lower colon?

I was just in Barcelona about a month ago and I honestly felt safe even by myself. I didn't see any gypsies. But really, all I saw are loads of tourists especially in the Ramblas area where I stayed. I even think the tourists outnumbered the locals so you kinda blend in. Was warned about pickpockets so I was always on guard but then again you should be whenever you are in a foreign land,

R117 calm down, gurl

It's the Roma. I keep trying to like them but they make it hard.

I met an Italian guy in Spain who advised me against Barcelona. He compared it to Naples!

And here I was complaining that L.A was a jungle of savages. My Uber left me in the middle of Cesar Chavez because his wife was having a baby. I don’t care if you miss your son’s birth. Take me to my fucking destination!

OP: what are some practical tips to avoid being robbed in Barcelona?

DL: we need genocidal warfare to rid Europe of brown people.

OP if someone approaches you and you don't like it say "No me molesta." Tell them not to bother you. Use your voice, don't be afraid, and don't dress like a tourist.

No because they are an ethnically protecred group. KNew a hot Roma guy, he told me about the scams and heard from one of his tricks that post sex he asked the guynif he wanted to get involved in a staged rear-ending on a roundabout. Nonwya to disprove claims of whiplash, and everyone walks away with at leasr €40k.

FUCKING OURAGEOUS!

Watch out for grown gypsy men with whistles and children posing as old hunched women with cane.

R123, Naples is the only place in the world where I've experienced theft/pickpocket. It was sorta my fault: I had my digital camera (this was years ago) wrapped around me on a neckstrap. I had my head turned, talking to someone and didn't realize that someone had cut the strap and taken the camera until minutes later. That's how sneaky and good they were.

I was just in Madrid, Barcelona, and Mallorca and had no bad experiences. Several years ago, my boyfriend was pick-pocketed in the Canary Islands. A handsome gypsy fellow tried to pull the "ring scam" with me outside the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. I had no interest in looking at the ring and he pretty much knew I was onto him right away.

I witnessed one tourist theft in Philadelphia, a lean youth wearing orange Nikes grabbed a man's fat wallet as he was paying for beer at an outdoor sandwich shop in the touristy area of town.

Multiple trips to BCN and MAD in the last 4 years.

People use their smartphones freely there. Kindles not so much. Tourists are obvious however, based on style (clothing, grooming, physical appearance). Americans are easy to identify.

Situational awareness will help you a long way. Be mindful when you are using your gadgets and/or with your personal belongings, especially in crowded tourist areas. Spanish are aloof and not touchy feely, so if someone is getting too close to you - pay attention and distance yourself and/or make direct/eye contact. It’s really second nature, don’t overthink it.

I second having a satchel type bag (murse). In crowded areas I default to wearing it front. The one I have has inner compartments that close with a zipper. Stuff like my phone and wallet goes into those compartments in crowded areas. Coupled with being in front of me, and the added effort of having two zippers to open, it feels secure. I also wear it across my body rather than just hanging off one shoulder. In places like cafes and restaurants, I wrap in around my leg and keep it to my front (lots of videos of thieves digging through anything hanging off the back of chairs).

Don’t be a zombie on your gadget. Have some vigilance, so yes you will need to be on guard. Avoid sitting near entrances at cafes/restaurants or right along the sidewalk when in busier areas (lots of al fresco dining options there). Grab and runs only take a second.

Never had an incident in either city however. Only people I know to have been mugged have been mugged in other major cities so they really do have dumb American written in their foreheads.