Harassment by fake cops in Spain

Dead giveaway to me--use the phrase "They said we looked suspicious with AirPods in and looking around" twice. Seriously, they're the only people in these two large cities wearing AirPods and wondering around?

The whistle blowing is in reference to what the anti-pickpocket vigilante groups do in Madrid and Barcelona. They harrass pickpockets by drawing attention to them and following them around. I find it hard to believe these groups would mistake American tourists for pickpockets. I'd imagine they have their profiling pretty much down. I think the OP has been watching one too many Youtube videos and concocted something based on what they've seen there. Or maybe not? Who knows.

Hi jaimeelsabio, yes I’m a first time poster and as mentioned just discovered Rick Steves so super excited to be on this forum. I’m happy to provide specific locations if that helps you provide great advice :

Madrid - Plaza Mayor/La Torre del Oro. We ducked into the Mercado de San Miguel.

Barcelona - Block of Discord as we were viewing Meseu Tapies.

Let me know if that helps! Thanks.

Hi all, we’re American tourists from California. Born and raised in California, and of Indian descent. We’re dressed like any other tourists - pants, sweaters, sneakers with a coat. Hope that helps with determining the profiling angle. Thanks all!

Well, as far as the Madrid incident goes, your profiling does make more sense now you say you're of Indian descent. It is possible you were being profiled as Roma.

What the OP describes in Madrid is how the vigilante groups operate. I saw a series on Youtube where someone tagged along with groups operating in Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. It's not content I'd link to here as I'm uneasy with the concept of vigilantism and it's folks working on the fringes of the law.

The additional information on locations and your heritage lends support to your story. In all my trips to Spain I’ve never experienced anything remotely similar to what you described and experienced.

KPD, you understand how there's a lot of first time posters who open with an extraordinary story they've got to tell. If these things did happen, I'm sure everyone sends their sympathies. Glad you were able to make it out unscathed. Hopefully you understand when folks on an internet forum you've never been to struggle to take such unusual things seriously.

That’s a frightening situation when you’re just visiting a place, and trying to follow an audio tour, but cause problems. People on a group guided tour, wearing headphones while following a guide around (who would probably be holding up a stick with a flag on the end) wouldn’t attract that kind of attention from would-be police.

I wonder, how many people were in the “groups,” claiming to be cops? How many would be needed at one time, unless this was a SWAT team? The one with the gun in his waistband sounds unusual - a plainclothes officer? What legitimate policeman would show a gun they way, and not take it out?

And they must not have been very good police, if there were that many, and you were able to slip out of the way in a good court and hardware store. What if you had really been criminals, and they let you get away?

Pickpocketing is evil and terrible, and official measures to catch the pickpockets and return their loot to the rightful owners would be welcome. But accosting and threatening innocent people is not the way to do it. They didn’t seem to be doing what they claimed.

This happened to you twice in Spain, in two big cities. I don’t know how to prevent a third time, if you’re doing your own audio tour, which AirPods appear to have been a factor. It didn’t happen in France, Italy, or Greece. Unless you were to have followed up in person at an actual police station in Madrid or Barcelona to report the incidents, I don’t know whether there’s more information to help in the future.

Glad you weren’t hurt. It’s unfortunate about the trauma you went through, and the time you had to spend getting out of the situations.

Hearing about this certainly provides a fuller world view. For that much the post was useful.

A pistol-packing vigilante in Spain is a surprise. I wonder if it could’ve been real.

It's really surprising that anyone would be daft enough to carry a real or imitation firearm in Barcelona city centre, much less show it. It would be unusual for someone out committing street crime to be doing that. Guns only really come into play in Europe much higher up the criminal scale.

The Barcelona incident didn't seem to be a vigilante group. That was an actual "fake cop" incident. It's not unheard of. There have been documented incidents in the RLD of Amsterdam if you care to look. Again, not links I want to sully this forum with.

If these things did actually happen, KPD was really straight out of luck on this trip. Both really awful incidents described.

Bad luck on two trips, both in Spain, in different cities. Perhaps you were targeted as tourists, KPD, and potential easy marks … maybe the “best” potential victims in the crowd at the moment. It’s ironic that the groups who approached you were allegedly fighting crime, when it appears that they were actually the ones committing unlawful acts.

You three did well to avoid further confrontation, or to have things turn out even worse that what you experienced. Trips can have unexpected things happen, bad or good, and being aware of the surrounding situations can help to deal with what comes up. There are police available to assist if something similar happens again, and maybe that would be a strategy in the future, for you or any of us on our travels. Are you planning any more trips to Spain in the near future? Or any other places with audio tours from Rick Steves?

https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcelona/20170927/431592327512/desarticulan-tres-grupos-de-falsos-policias-que-robaban-a-turistas-en-barcelona.html, it seems some of these gangs have been identified and arrested

Spain isn't like London

You really are not going to encounter that casually in London either, or not from vigilantes. To encounter gun use anywhere in the UK would be really very unusual, and would mean that you had somehow stumbled into a far far more serious situation.
Real police would be all over the situation if that happened here. Even our police cannot carry fire arms unless in very specific circumstances, and then working to a specific rule book.

MikelBasqueGuide, your article is 7 years old. Anything recent?

https://metropoliabierta.elespanol.com/eixample/20240302/denunciados-por-hacerse-pasar-policias-de-paisano-para-robar-turistas-en-barcelona/836916354_0.html, here you are

Very odd. Curious, in Barcelona when they accused you about your AirPods, what language were they speaking?
When you were bold enough and ducked into the hardware store, did they just vanish? What was the story owner's take on all of this, while you were waiting it out??

Hmmm, I’m American of Indian descent too. Thanks KPD for the heads up. I’ll be sure to be careful.

Hmmm, I’m American of Indian descent too. Thanks KPD for the heads up. I’ll be sure to be careful.

Remember, even though we speculated on it further up the thread, Nick and I are just guys on the internet guessing about stuff someone else said on the internet. Try not to worry too much about it on our account.

The incident described in Madrid I think is the anti-pickpocket vigilantism gone wrong. Maybe the group of people are putting too much emphasis on the perpetrators' skin colour and race, rather than paying attention to what people are doing.

What I saw on the video I mentioned earlier was two young women in Madrid, almost certainly Roma, being hounded by a group of people blowing whistles and shouting in Spanish and English. There were many bystanders and the police were in attendance but didn't seem to make any arrests. The group followed the alleged pickpockets until they boarded a suburban train out of town.

It's fair enough taking a stand against this problem of pickpocketing that exists right across many European destinations, but at the end of the day it must have been pretty traumatic for the two women, I'd guess probably in their teens. If they're targeting people just because they're a bit brown, then that's well out of order. The clips I saw in Paris did include arrests, but also a bit more physicality as it was grown men involved. I found the Youtube videos in my history, I can link to them on PM if anyone wants, but I don't really like what's going on, even though well intentioned. I feel internet publicity drives this sort of thing.

The Barcelona incident that the OP described could happen to anyone. There's an outside chance it's the same people trying to pull this stunt in Barcelona that I had heard about in Amsterdam.

Absolutely, but so far all the RS forum has is your report of videos of Roma looking people and an account from the OP who is also an individual of color. Any English chaps being attacked this way in any video?

Apart from the two links to reports in Spanish newspapers MikeBasqueGuide provided of course. I didn't get the victim's race from those. I'd imagine that it's entirely possible they might have been English (if you mean white, English people are various colours). If the folk who are working the streets of Barcelona only robbed non-white people, they'd be struggling for marks I think. Was that the point you were making? edit: I'm not sure it was the point you were making. You seem to be conflating two very different incidents in Madrid and Barcelona the OP talked about.

To be perfectly frank, there are some issues with race to varying degrees across Europe. I'm a white Scottish guy, so I don't want to speak for anyone of a different colour because I haven't lived their experience. Some countries are definitely lagging a bit behind I think though. Nobody bats an eyelid if you're Asian (that's what people from the Indian subcontinent identify as in the UK) in the UK these days. I think there's a few more countries across Europe where it might be a little more challenging to be browner than I am. There's been different patterns of migration and different attitudes built up across various countries over the years. Europe's definitely not homogenous in that respect.

GerryM, my apologies, I do get a little sensitive on the subject for family reasons.

BUT TO BE FAIR I would not be surprised if this sort of thing only happens very rarely and in very few locations in Spain and elswhere. I am not about to condem a city or a country over this. But people of color still need to be more aware of their surroundings than other tourists and that is unfortunate.

I understand. It's never a good thing to tar a whole race or community with one brush. You probably have much more experience of Roma folks in Hungary. As I understand it, they're largely fairly poor folks who have been oppressed and marginalised throughout history; a people who suffered terribly as part of the Nazi holocaust but are sometimes forgotten. There's a significant minority out in European cities committing these sort of crimes and doing pretty well at it though.

I'll link to the video in Madrid I was talking about on PM for you. It's not some underground thing; it's a recognised young travel vlogger and a video with over five million views. You can decide if it's something others on the forum might want to see. Direct action, or vigilantism, whatever you want to call it, directed squarely at individuals in the street, no matter if they're up to no good or not, doesn't sit easy with me.

GerryM, thank you. I can send you my thoughts on the videos if you are interested; but I suspect you can guess based on the following.

But first, some of my posts have veered off track of the purpose of the forum: Tourism. My apologies. So, I am going to do some editing. I stand behind my words, but they aren’t necessarily conducive to the intent of the forum. Instead, I will provide this direct, and I think more appropriate answer:

For various historic and cultural reasons there are places in Europe where people that look or act differently than the cultural norm are subject to suspicion at best and persecution at worst. Sometimes that persecution comes at the hands of vigilantes. As vigilantes are not trained in the law or in the legal process, and at times feel above the law because of the greater good they feel they are providing, the results can be counterproductive and unfairly applied; more so than if the police were doing the job.

For tourists that can be misconstrued as the target group of the local vigilantism, this can suck the joy out of a holiday. It’s impossible to know the extent or the severity of the situation in any location. The vigilantes have much greater access for distribution of their point of view, and the nature of the subject attracts click-bait articles designed to elicit a negative response towards the targets.

Tourists have also become over sensitized to the situation. Whenever I read about a tourist that is certain that their phone was lifted, I must ask myself, pickpocket or did you leave the phone on the bar 7 beers ago. Or as likely it fell out of your open purse or back pocket. I suspect a good number of pickpocket incidents were just plain, “he lost it” situations. But easier to blame someone else.

So deciding to go or not to go is purely subjective. If someone wanted to stay away from city “X” because they would be uncomfortable, I understand and support it 100%. Doesn’t matter the fact of the situation, because there is no way to actually know the fact of the situation. But it is something that should be weighed and considered. Very unfortunate in the 21st century.

You mentioned Hungary. So I will tell you what little I know. I suspect as a percentage of the population the Roma community here is the 2nd or 3rd largest in Europe. I sat in a Roma neighborhood when I watched your videos. Despite the number of Roma in Budapest, in the 20-something years that I have been coming here, which adds up to at least 4 years on the ground here, I have not once met anyone or heard second hand of anyone, who was the victim of a pick pocket. That is not to say that it never happens. Why the difference between Budapest and some of the other cities mentioned here, I have no idea.

You mentioned Hungary. So I will tell you what little I know. I suspect as a percentage of the population the Roma community here is the 2nd or 3rd largest in Europe. I sat in a Roma neighborhood when I watched your videos. Despite the number of Roma in Budapest, in the 20-something years that I have been coming here, which adds up to at least 4 years on the ground here, I have not once met anyone or heard second hand of anyone, who was the victim of a pick pocket. That is not to say that it never happens. Why the difference between Budapest and some of the other cities mentioned here, I have no idea.

Perhaps Hungary gives more subsidies to the Roma people than those living in some other European countries. Just a guess.

I dont know, but I would be surprised if the government was giving individuals money based upon race. My wild guess is that they are more vested in and incorporated into society here than in a lot of other places. That is that they dont live as much on the fringe.

I dont know, but I would be surprised if the government was giving individuals money based upon race. My wild guess is that they are more vested in and incorporated into society here than in a lot of other places. That is that they dont live as much on the fringe.

https://welovebudapest.com/en/article/2021/11/17/sights-culture-once-upon-a-time-in-the-gypsy-quarter-of-buda/#:~:text=The%20Gypsy%20quarter%20of%20Buda%20was%20not%20at%20all%20a,in%20search%20of%20better%20livelihoods.

https://welovebudapest.com/en/article/2021/11/17/sights-culture-once-upon-a-time-in-the-gypsy-quarter-of-buda/#:~:text=The%20Gypsy%20quarter%20of%20Buda%20was%20not%20at%20all%20a,in%20search%20of%20better%20livelihoods.

https://www.uccusetak.hu/en/

.... population RESIDENT in Barcelona in June 2025 of Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi (and similar) descent: +50,000 in Jan25 - Source: https://www.idescat.cat/poblacioestrangera/?geo=mun:080193&nac=a&b=12&lang=en

Just saying!

Thats a little like saying that there are 3 million of Swedish and Norwegian decent living in Kyiv.

There are maybe 75,000 Romani living in Catalonia. How many in Barcelona, no one is saying. In Hungary they make up maybe 7% of the population but less than 3% in Budapest so they aren’t by and large attracted to big cities. And all of the numbers are guesses because they don’t self-report in the census.

But here is the elephant in the room. Why are we talking about Romani when talking about crime? That a pretty discriminatory stereotype. I suspect that most of the street crime in cities with high crime rates like Barcelona has very little to do with Romani.

It's more likely that during the horrible incidents in Barcelona and Madrid, the OP and friend were mistaken for young Moroccans, an underage group recruited in droves to steal in Barcelona. Being underage, they were difficult to prosecute. I don't know if this was the case in Madrid, and I don't know if Barcelona has been able to get the problem under control by now.

It would be good to hear from the people living in Spain. My sympathies to the OP and anyone targeted by color.

My previous comment was to say that 3% of the residents in the city are from South Asia. This community, like many others, is fully integrated into the city.

Mr E: Can't say the same for the Romani community as a whole, part of it is and we're all proud of it (so much so that it is officially considered part of the Catalan heritage), but part isn't, despite the fact they've been here for generations. And sadly, yes, a disproportionate number of major criminal incidents, mostly related to drugs and weapons, are related to a small segment of that community.

Elizabeth What "horrendous incidents" would that be? Where do you get that those Moroccans are "an underage group recruited in droves to steal in Barcelona"? getting "the problem under control by now"?... I believe you are misinterpreting the day to day in this city, but again, I suppose it's a matter of perception because from a factual point of view, your description is not accurate.

Anyway, the original point was that there had been some cases of tourists (an easier target, since they’re only in the city for a few days) being harassed by fake police officers. And yes, it did happen… some time ago. But as far as I know, those responsible were caught, and nothing like that has been heard of since. Could it still be happening? Maybe —just like other types of crime. If you’ve ever lived in a big city, you know that where there are a lot of people, all kinds of stuff—good and bad—is bound to happen.

But here’s the thing: taking one-off incidents and blowing them up into "a big problem" doesn’t help anyone, especially when this is done from a distance, without any real understanding of what’s actually happening on the ground. It misrepresents reality and spreads fear. And that hurts not just the cities being talked about, but also people who just want to travel and explore.

We’ve seen this all over the world: Korean and Chinese communities being harassed in the U.S., Algerians in France, Turks in Germany… and here in Barcelona, Moroccans. Are there isolated incidents? Yes. Can this be considered "a problem"? Not in and of itself.

And again, before anyone accuses me of being biased: I don’t work in tourism, I participate here just to share my culture and heritage with those willing to embrace it —so I honestly don’t care whether someone decides to come here or not—nor do I work for any public institution. I'm simply a citizen who speaks up when criticism is needed (and sometimes I’m very critical!), but I don’t like seeing reality being distorted.

But here’s the thing: taking one-off incidents and blowing them up
into "a big problem" doesn’t help anyone. It misrepresents reality and
spreads fear. And that hurts not just the cities being talked about,
but also people who just want to travel and explore

Nicely said.