Hostal Reconquista
C/ Zorrilla 7, 28014, Madrid, 28014, Spain
More about Madrid
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Casa de la Ville
have a drink here!! Really comfortable
La Casa del Abuelo
Landing in Madrid
Forum Posts
Scam?
by pipipopo
Hi
I’m back from Madrid
I wanted to ask you guys something
I was in Retiro Park when I was approached by a man.
He said he was a tourist from Bulgaria and asked for directions.
So we sat down on a bench and we looked at the map I had.
Then another man approached us and flashed some Romania ID.[I can’t recognize the language of the ID except it had the word Romania in it]
The man I was with then responded and flashed a Romanian ID as well.[not Bulgarian]
Anyway I wasn’t going to show IDs to a bunch of strangers and walked away.
But what was it?
Is it a scam? And how does it work?
Re: Scam?
by brotherleelove
If you had pulled out your wallet they would have snatched it and run.
Re: Scam?
by nicolaitan
scammark
Re: Scam?
by sirgaw
I read of something like this, where the second man says he's a cop and you are the hero and have helped grab a wanted man. "Sir could we please have your bank account details, so we can credit your account with a huge reward in recognition of the great work you have done for our country."
Sadly there are many who fall for the fake ID with the various scams and you did the right thing by walking away.
As a tip for you, I carry around a small plastic canister of white pepper and in case of real trouble I will use it in someones face. They can't see or breathe and I get away. If asked by genuine police why I carry pepper around - I like pepper on my fries and McDonalds never seem to have any.
Re: Scam?
by nicolaitan
five stars there, david.
Re: Scam?
by marielexoteria
That's genius, sirgaw!
Re: Scam?
by Belsaita
(white pepper to be added to my packing list) ;o))
never heard of this one but sure it works as said: as soon you show your wallet they would grab it and run away
I guess as many people already know old scams as the 'bird poo', false police, etc... they are inventing new ones
In any case, NEVER have your wallet accessible, and if you see anything suspicious (this definitely was), just walk way. They usually go for the easiest prey and unfortunately many people do fall on these tricks
Re: Scam?
by puerto_lover
There are plenty of Romanians in Spain and growing. I read that almost 1,000,000 were actually living in Spain either legally or illegally. Romania supplies cheap labour to the construction industry in Spain but nowadays that industry is in really bad difficulties. Also agriculture and many other jobs. With a growing unemployment situation in Spain (& Europe generally) I am fearful that all kinds of scams and other crimes will be on the increase. The language used by Romanians has many similarities with Spanish and so integration is easier. Of course much of the language stemmed from Roman Latin. Romance tongue.
Re: Scam?
by sirgaw
>(white pepper to be added to my packing list) ;o))
Perhaps I should explain. I'm a taxi driver and its a dangerous occupation. One day I had a passenger who was a cop and we were talking about personal safety. He asked me if I had a tyre lever, or similar, under my seat. He explained that I could be charged with carrying an offensive weapon and it was he who suggested the pepper idea. "If you ever have to use it and then get asked by the law why you had it with you, tell them you like pepper on your Mackers fries. The INTENT was not to use it as a weapon."
Luckily I have not had to use it, but there has been a few times when the top has come off and I'm all ready to blast away.
Travel Tips for Madrid
Visit the Escorial outside the...
by b1bob
Visit the Escorial outside the city. The people of Madrid are very, very friendly even to Americans. I can say there was no culture shock. I suppose the fondest memouries of the whole 3 weeks in Madrid was meeting with Spanish friends. That guy Lucas I met on the plane also popped in on me. There were also a bunch of Spanish students studying other things. While the rest of my group spoke English amongst themselves, I chose to speak Spanish with the natives and made some friendships that last through to this day.
Proud Artistic Heritage
by acemj
Madrid is a city packed full of famous artworks by many of Spain's greatest masters like Goya (pictured here), El Greco and Velasquez. The Paseo de Arte (Art Walk) on the eastern side of the city will take you by many monuments as well as a triumvirate of great museums, the Prado, Reina Sofia and the Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Bocadillos...
by Malecka
I am more than sure that you will find these two small places located very close to plaza Mayor... They sell bocadillos con calamares, sounds kind of weird to combine bread with fish, o more precisely squid... but they are good. Oh... the photo is taken outside these two food joints, on a february night. Yes, pretty crowded.
Eighty shops in an old palace.
by Maurizioago about ABC SERRANO.
This three storeys shopping centre used to house the offices of the newspaper ABC.
At ABC you can buy almost everything. Flowers, perfumes, clothes, toys an so on. There are few restaurants and two or three cafes to rest your legs after the shopping. Some gift. Something you need or wish... ...
Torre Europa
by Gaby_G about Discos
It´s been a year and a half since I came back from Madrid, so my memory is kind of confused at this time... But I remember that in the Torre Europa area (very near Santiago Bernabeu) are a lot of bars, pubs and discos where your can go for the real "marcha"... You can go from a place to another in some steps, and have a lot of fun...
-------------
Ya paso como año y medio desde queregrese de Madrid, asi que quisas estoy un poco confundida con lugares y asi, pero recuerdo que por Torre Europa (cerca del estadio Santiago Bernabeu) hay un monton de discos, bares y lugares para ir de verdadera marcha, de los que puedes saltar de uno para otro con unos pasitos...
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