Have any other travelers experienced recent attacks in Barcelona? In early June 2012 we flew to Barcelona. Arrived at a nice hotel in Eixample. We headed to Sagrada Familia on foot @2 pm. Our friends headed down the same large street 15 min. behind. Within minutes they had someone throw a bucket of liquid fecal matter at them from behind. As they turned around horrifed a man came out and expressed his concern for what "someone" had done to them. He encouraged them to come over to his place to clean up. Luckily they didn't and returned to the hotel disgusted. Once there the hotel did little to help only commenting that it has happened before. They stated that if tourists had done as the man suggested they would have been beaten & robbed. It really ruined the trip for our group. We had encouraged these friends to come to Barcelona as we loved our visit 2 years ago. Besides this, our party was the target of pickpockets there 2 times on the Metro the next day. Luckily we were able to shove them away and draw attention to them on the Metro. We carry little and wear hidden travel pouches around our necks. We left the next day. Needless to say we have said Adios to Barcelona forever!!!
I believe that if enough tourists report these incidents maybe Barcelona will be forced to police these areas and crack down on these misfits.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32349 posts
Jan, What a dreadful experience your friends were subjected to. It's fortunate that they had the good sense to return to the Hotel rather than agreeing to go with the "helpful local" (who I'm sure just happened to appear at precisely the right time). The incidents with the pickpockets is somewhat understandable, as that can happen anywhere in Europe. I know people that have had "substantial amounts" of money "pinched" from zippered pockets while riding on the Rome metro. I suppose criminals in Barcelona are resorting to more desperate measures, given the current state of the economy in Spain. Unemployment is at a record 25%, so that's a lot of people out of work. The fact that they're now mugging/beating tourists rather than just pickpocketing, is a bit troubling. Hopefully your friends next trip to Europe will be problem free!
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
This type of crime is very difficult to crack down on.. and yes, I have hear that physical confrontations is more likely in Barcelona then some cities. No answers though,, there are more problems in Spain right now then a travel board could get into.
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
While this is a very sad and unfortunate incident, it is not fair to blame the city of Barcelona and vow never to return. Pickpokets are almost everywhere in Europe, and it sounds like your whole group was wearing their moneybelts so they weren't a real threat anyway. The bucket throwing is something I've not heard of, so it's good to be aware of. Did your friends report it to the police? Even though there would be nothing they could do, they still need to know about it so they can track when and where these things happen. And let's face it, visiting almost any US city has a much higher chance of violent crime than Barcelona or any western European city.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10594 posts
I was pickpocketed in Paris and it remains my favorite city. You can't blame an entire city for the actions of a few. I take some responsibility for the fact that my wallet was in a location that enabled someone to pickpocket me. As for having disgusting fluids thrown at a person, there is nothing an individual could do to prevent that. I'm sorry your group had to deal with that. I was in Barcelona last year for the first time and had read up on the scams. That is a new one and hopefully not widespread. I guess this is an example of someone taking desperate measures in desperate times. Unfortunate.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
Fortunately we didn't experience this in Barcelona, although a guy in an electric wheelchair ran over my wife's foot and acted like it was her fault for not getting out of his way. Barcelona was our first stop. The rest of the trip I kidded my wife whenever I saw a wheelchair coming our way. :-)