Why Barcelona is a street crime hotspot

Some of the suggestions in the comments section are over the top.

Use taxi from airport? Buy a Spanish newspaper? While I agree with some things like not carrying a lot of items in purse and looking at maps inside attractions or restaurants, some of the advice seems over the top. I've taken public transport all around the city with my parents in their 70s. We definitely don't look native but have never had any incidents to speak of. I'd always recommend taking the Aerobus to/from the airport before recommending a taxi and as for buying a Spanish newspaper in a cafe, thieves will realize you're a tourist the minute you open your mouth. However, we've traveled in shoulder season during March so perhaps peak tourist season is different.

I read these stories about pickpockets and thefts during my first trips to Spain and Barcelona and I was paranoid with fear thinking I'd be robbed my first night. I ended up relaxing and Spain remains one of my favorite countries in Europe. Missing the cafe con leche right now.

A brief search of articles and statistics about pickpocketing hotspots in Europe indicated Barcelona was #1 in virtually all sources. Muggings were also mentioned often as occurring in Barcelona. If officials wished to change the situation and significantly reduce these crimes, they would.

I read these stories about pickpockets and thefts during my first trips to Spain and Barcelona and I was paranoid with fear thinking I'd be robbed my first night.

That is why I have such a problem with the suggestion that crime is extremely common in Europe and that it's almost a given that you're going to experience crime at some point during your visit.

While never a victim and realizing a very small sample size, three of my friends were pickpocketed. It happens.

When my daughter was pick pocketed, she was embarrassed and thought her brother would had a "hay day". Instead, her brother and his wife helped get the service stopped on her cell phone and told her that they know A LOT of people that have been pick pocketed in Spain, especially Barcelona. However, Barcelona, still remains a favorite city and I'm going back to Spain in a few months. It really does help to share the stories. I had never heard to be aware of someone claiming to want to help get bird poop off or to be wary of someone posing as a tourist in need of directions. I took a bus from Placa de Catalunya to the airport. It was issue free.

I had a friend who had her collarbone broken when visiting Barcelona 2 or 3 years ago -- by the thieves YANKING her purse off her body. Her husband and son were about 100 meters up in front of her. Nasty.

I have a friend whose pocket was picked in Washington DC. My nephew's luggage was stolen at LaGuardia in NYC. Another friend endured an attempted carjacking in my hometown of Austin, TX.

I was almost afraid to go Barcelona - one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Obviously, there will be more street crime there than in less-visited cities.

The first time we went for a walk in Barcelona, I was gripping my purse like a crazy woman. But after a few minutes, I realized that my husband and I are pretty streetwise and we just used our heads and didn't borrow trouble. We and our possessions survived five days in Barcelona.

Barcelona and Madrid are pretty bad for street crime. I still think a few basic rules significantly lower your chance of becoming a victim (not necessarily in this order).
- Don't dress ostentatiously or wear expensive jewelry.
- Don't be over burdened with packages/bags. I use a one-handle rule. I reduce everything I'm carrying to one bag so it's easy to keep track of.
- Pay attention to your surroundings, especially when it's crowded.
- Keep the vacation killer items (passport, credit cards, tickets) in a money belt, neck wallet or otherwise well out of reach. I keep some cash in my front pocket, but not enough to worry about. I don't recommend wallets or purses. Only access your money belt in a private place (toilet, hotel room) and check to make sure you didn't drop anything before leaving.
- Have a game face in crowds and tourist areas. Looking lost makes you a target.
- Don't stop in the middle of a crowd to check a map. Don't wander around lost to avoid checking a map but do find a place to the side or a place to sit where you can maintain some idea what's going on around you.
- Don't be in a hurry. Giving yourself plenty of time helps.
- Understand when you're fatigued your guard is going to be lower. Try to make rest part of your trip and realize a jet-lagged person (you after your intercontinental flight) isn't as sharp/aware as a rested person.

In Madrid, I violated one. In a grocery store, I found something I liked that cost more than what I had in my front pocket. I reached into my neck wallet, in line, to get extra cash out. Three blocks later, I realized a guy was following me. Three more blocks and I stared him down while he disappeared down a side street.

In Barcelona, a guy in a wheelchair went out of his way to put his wheelchair on my ex's foot (and leave it there). It was almost comical the way he clearly maneuvered to get the wheelchair on her foot then stop. It was an obvious distraction so I grabbed her and walked away briskly.

"Sutton's Law"...

Journalist: "Why do you rob banks?" Willie Sutton: "That's where the money is."

No shortage of tourists in Barcelona. It should not come as a shock that there's lots of petty crime committed there targeted at tourists.

I once read essentially the same thing as this Guardian news article, except that it was that Barcelona treated pickpockets not even as subject to a crime. In the USA you can still get 12 months in prison for a misdemeanor crime.

I suspect that another factor is the efficiency of the police force. We lived in Germany for four years and pickpocketing there was not heard of.

"Much as Barcelona would love to shed its reputation as the
bag-snatching capital of Europe, it is not in the gift of the city
authorities to do much about it. Under Spanish law, if you steal
something worth less than €400 (£357) it’s a falta (misdemeanour), not
a delito (crime). If you are caught, you will be fined, probably
around €50, but however many times you re-offend, it remains a
misdemeanour and as an offence it is not cumulative.

As a result, the thieves, who mostly operate in groups, do so with a
sense of impunity, seeing the fines as little more than a tax."

Very disappointing how lax and essentially ENCOURAGING legislators are to these pieces of garbage.

My nephew's luggage was stolen at LaGuardia in NYC.

Airport theft is very real. Unlike Barcelona or perhaps all of Spain as its criminal laws are nationally controlled as opposed to legislated by a city/regional government according to The Guardian, when caught and convicted of theft of luggage in the City of New York, the lowlife faces 7 years imprisonment, not a silly $57 fine.

From earlier this year:

A Queens man is facing seven years in prison after being convicted of
stealing musician John Legend’s Louis Vuitton bag from Kennedy Airport
in March 2017.

Agustin Hilario, 64, of Corona, was found guilty of third-degree
criminal possession of stolen property Tuesday after a weeklong trial
before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ira Margulis, according to Queens
district attorney Richard A. Brown.

....

Authorities said Hilario was seen on surveillance camera footage taken
at Terminal 4 “approaching the cart and pushing it away from the area”
before he “removed the black leather bag and drove away from the
airport with the luggage.”

A Port Authority officer recognized Hilario from that security footage
because he was known to frequent the airport and, according to Brown,
that officer tried to call the Queens man on his mobile phone — but
was unsuccessful reaching him.

The officer then called “a friend of the defendant’s,” Brown said, and
Hilario promised to return the bag to the airport.

But, Brown said, Hilario did not return the bag at the agreed-upon
time and was subsequently arrested.

Most of us warn people when we see them putting themselves at risk.
And yet, despite all the warnings, in guide books and websites, over
the public address system at the beach and on the metro, in several
languages, we see so many people with their wallets in their back
pockets, handbags draped over the back of the chair in a bar, or a
camera or mobile on the table, and you think, well, what did you
expect?

As long as there are ripe targets, thieves and pickpockets will flourish. Add in the laxity of criminal consequences, and places like Barcelona will continue to be a haven for pickpockets.

There are multitudes of threads here about keeping valuables safe when traveling, and yet there are still people insisting that a wallet in a front pocket or just be aware of your surroundings is adequate. There is a danger of making people paranoid, as some here have noted they became from the warnings, but clearly a lot of people are not getting, or heeding, the warnings. Even the author of the article, a seasoned travel veteran, got lax and didn't follow his own advice.