 | Barcelona People to Avoid Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 52 |  |
 | |  |  | People to Avoid: Muggings are a problem near La Ramblas | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
Barcelona is a safe European city in terms of serious crime. However, muggings of tourists involving little or no physical contact are a problem. Las Ramblas is among the most robbed travel area in the world unfortunately. Tourists are usually sitting ducks. They carry plenty of cash & seldom stay around long enough to testify against their attackers. Some police officers claim that about 80 per cent of the attackers are North African immigrants. In the Ravel area alone, west of La Ramblas where some good restaurants are indicated in various tourist guides, the police process about 30 muggings per day. Here are a few safety tips. Never let go of your shoulder bag. When walking, it goes across your body, resting in front of you, or under your armpit, but not over your shoulder. When sitting, take it off by all means, but put your arm or leg through the strap. The same goes for your camera. When sleeping in a bus, train or vulnerable room, lock your bags up, and then lock them to something immovable. Bag snatchers are not uncommon in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Greece, in addition to more obvious places like Turkey, Peru, Brazil, Jamaica. It is safer to avoid any unnecessary contact with strangers in the Barcelona tourist zones if you wish to avoid the risk of losing your money and possessions. Leave all except essential spending money in your hotel room or cruise ship safe. Carry a photocopy of your passport, not the real thing. The hotel will stamp the back of the photocopy. Do not use pavement cash dispensers. It is usually too easy to determine your personal ID number and snatch your card before you can get it put away. Do not buy flowers from wandering street sellers; be particularly wary if they try to insert a flower into your lapel. Walk away immediately. If people come up to you pointing to a stain on your clothing, ignore them and walk away. Do not participate in the card and dice games which you will see on the streets. Do not walk down deserted or badly lit streets after dark. Leave a Comment
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| | | | People to Avoid: keep nothing in you pockets | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Barcelona was the only place that I personally was bothered by pickpockets (that I was aware of) one of the places that is notorious for this is in and around Placa Reial, and this is where I had the encounter. A (new found) friend and I were stumbling back to the hostel, and two guys, who acted abnormally friendly, approached us. They tried to talk to us, and then started pinching the back of my arm - No doubt – as a diversionary tactic, so we couldn’t feel them searching out pockets. They were very persistent; we didn’t stop walking, and wouldn’t leave us alone. I never felt threatened, as far as bodily harm, I’ve been in many worse situations in the States, but it was very annoying. At first, I really didn’t care too much because I knew I had nothing in my pockets for them. I finally had to step up to one of them, and let him know, I knew exactly on what they were doing, and if they wanted to persist, I was going to get very angry. (ok - I used other words and added a little threat in there, but you get the picture) After that, they stopped immediately, and ran off. Neither of us lost anything… and remember that most of these people are looking for the easy targets. At 3:30 am and no one else around, I guess I looked liked one. LOL. Leave a Comment
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| | | | People to Avoid: Pickpockets! Be aware! | Tip Rating: | | | | |
In general Barcelona is not dangerous, what I mean is robbery with violence is unusual. On the other hand, and specially if you are a tourist, pickpockets are waiting for you. Just keep your eyes open (don' t be obsessed) and don´t give facilities to them. Worst places: public places as stations, the metro, touristic spots, during street performance... Dont´put valuables in your backpack pockets, don´t leave your bag under the table in bars around the center, keep your bag closed, don´t show money in public... There are guys in the metros and trains (specially in the airport line) with some dress, jacket or even a newspaper hanging on their arms... be aware... Again: don't be panic just use your common sense, all big cities around the world have the same problem. Fortunately firearms are not free here and it means Barcelona is more secure than other cities in another countries... Leave a Comment Phone: 091 National Police.Other Contact: Emergencies Tel.: 112
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