Pickpockets in Basrcelona

As long as you wear a money belt, all is good.

I don't particularly care for the place, but we go there every once in a while. Never had a problem (nor know anybody esle who has), but seem to read about it.

The cop business seems odd. The place is alive with cops, both uniformed and plainclothes. Of course this might be because there is a problem or purely preventative, who knows.

What area was the author talking about?

"please tell me Barcelona is not the DMZ the author of this article described."
It's not. As with any big city, spots that tourists congregate are going to be targets for pickpockets, but I've never noticed the problem to be any worse in Barcelona than anywhere else...the worst I've ever encountered has been on the Paris Metro system. Take the usual precautions, and be especially careful in crowded areas like the Ramblas.

Just take typical common sense precautions and you'll be ok. the only place in Barcelona I felt a bit nervous was on the metro where it was often extremely busy, but that said I didn't actually see anyone get pickpocketed. If the subway came and it was just really really full, we would wait the five minutes for the next one so as to not be squished in like sardines and be more susceptible to that. I think it's a bit easier for females as we can keep our hand around our purse no matter what, but there's lots of good information on these boards about the precautions to take to avoid pickpockets, or at very least significantly minimize the damage if it DOES happen. Things like using a money belt, only keeping easily accessible the things you will use that day (say, 50 euros and one credit card), copying everything, not keeping all the money in one place, etc...

I also think the general rule applies that even if you make it just 10% harder to get pickpocketed, they'll ignore you and go to the person next to you who's easier. I would personally never walk around any city with a backpack, it's just too easy to open without me knowing. But if you do, you can always just use a safety pin or paper clip to keep it closed.

I went to Barcelona a couple of years ago and had zero hassle. I think it would be better not to dress like a stereotypical rich US tourist, though.

What Debra said about making it 10% more difficult to be a victim of pick pocketing is right on. PP aren't like these fictionalized, high-stakes, Pink Panther jewel thiefs who can't resist a challenge. They go after the easiest prey they can find. We were recently in Barc for three nights and had no problem whatsoever. True, you read a lot of reports about PP, but that probably represents a fraction of the tourists who visited Barc and didn't have any trouble at all.

We have been in Barcelona three time in the past ten years, most recently last Oct. While I have read some of the tales about Barcelona we didn't find it any different than any other large European city. In fact, we thought Los Ramblas looked cleaner, and more orderly last Fall than it had been in the past. The police presents was obvious.

Give us the author's reference so we can read it first hand for an opinion. So much of the pickpocket stories are third and fourth hand that someone heard from a cousin's friend and it gets enhanced along the way. Not suggesting that some of the things report do not happen but it is rare. BUT, having said that, we are not running around in the alleys and side streets at 2AM.

We were standing on Las Ramblas last September when one of the merchants shouted to us. A young woman was standing behind us pretending to read a map but she had it spread slightly over my friends backpack and was trying to get into the pack. Its very busy and you must be careful...a money belt is always my option and I often carry Monopoly money in my pocket to hand over in case we are confronted.

we just returned from our second visit to Barcelona and loved every second of it. Pickpockets are there, just like in any major city anywhere, but can be avoided by using a money belt and keeping an eye out for trouble. I'd advise you not to wear a backpack but rather an easier to manage daybag/messenger bag that doesn't have "blind spots," meaning that it doesn't have easy access points where you can't see. Something you can wear slung across your body works well, at least for me. Anyway, just be vigilant and you should be fine. These people are looking for easy targets.

Yes. My husband had his wallet lifted, luckily it was metro tickets and a couple of euros. He was wearing a money belt. I also saw a hand right over my bag getting off the train. I pulled my zipped bag forward.