Barcelona, the City I Won’t Visit Again
Barcelona is the first city I will say I won’t visit again. No other city that I have visited in the past 20 years left me such a bad taste and it is a pity as it is a very beautiful city.
It was sickening to see so many pick-pockets. Nothing has happened to me but still I did not like it. I thought that perhaps it was only me, some anecdotal evidence that there were (much) more pick-pockets than in any other city but I came across this list compiled by TripAdvisor:
Global Pickpocket Top Ten 2010 (vs 2009)
1. Barcelona, Spain (1)
2. Rome, Italy (2)
3. Paris, France (5)
4. Madrid, Spain (-)
5. Athens, Greece (9)
6. Prague, Czech Republic (3)
7. Costa Brava (Alicante Province), Spain (-)
8. Lisbon, Portugal (-)
9. Tenerife, Spain (-)
10. London, England (-)
Barcelona was no. 1 in 2009 and 2010 and I am quite sure the situation has not changed in 2011/2012.
I have compiled a list of pages that could help the tourist in Barcelona. However, it was dis-heartening to read some stories of people who knew about Barcelona’s reputation and took all precautionary measures and they were still pick-pocketed.
Robbed in Barcelona? What I did + tips to beat the pickpockets
Barcelona Safety – Learn and Apply The 16 Safety Guidelines to Safeguard Your Personal Safety
Barcelona Pickpockets – Real Life Stories And Tips on How to Beat Them
Perhaps this is the way to visit Barcelona, they seemed to be from the Secret Service (was someone from Obama’s family in the group of tourists?).
Disappointing you won’t be visiting again as it’s one of the most marvelous cities in Europe, especially in the summertime. Why again did it leave such a bad taste in your mouth? Just watching others become victims? I was sexually assaulted by a gang of African prostitutes off of Las Ramblas, one grabbed my iPhone during the act, and they all ran off with it. Luckily I was able to chase them down and get it back. Something to write home about and Barcelona is still one of my top two cities in Europe (the other being Berlin) and I can’t wait to visit again next summer. Maybe try not to be so cynical 😉
“Why again did it leave such a bad taste in your mouth? Just watching others become victims?”
Yes
Barcelona also left a sour and bitter taste in my mouth. My iphone was stolen the day I arrived in BCN. Beautiful city, but too many people trying to either rob you or scam you. I’ve had better luck in PAR, MAD, and even FCO. Just the luck of the draw, I guess…
Did you see someone get pickpocketd, or did you just read all of this? Did you spend your entire time on Ramblas trying to see this happen? I’m sorry, been to Barcelona many times–never pickpocketed…never saw anyone have it happen to them live. Does it happen, yes. It happens in every city in the world…don’t put your wallet in your back pocket, don’t wear long straps on purses…common sense ways to not have this happen to you. I’m a little skeptical of your analysis unless you watched this happen many times and then knowing what was going to happen you didn’t alert the people or police.
Sexually assaulted by prostitutes, interesting. Isn’t it normally the other way around?
That’s unfortunate, as Barcelona is ground zero for quite a lot of architectural and artistic world treasures. We took our children last summer and it’s now our favorite city. We took reasonable precautions, the same we take anywhere we travel, and felt perfectly safe. We avoided Las Ramblas because it was overcrowded and tacky. There were hordes of young, drunk American and European backpacking tourists, which I can imagine are quite a draw for the pick pockets. Away from Ramblas, Barcelona was a beautiful, clean, quiet, friendly city.
One of my colleagues nearly had her shoulder bag ripped away from her shoulder by a motorbiker. Sounds like a terrifying experience. Spain currently also have very high unemployment rate, so that leading to petty thefts is not unexpected.
I visited Athens which is also an interesting place to visit, and it is on the list of high pocket-picketers. Nothing happened to me (or my wallet) there, so all was well, though I took reasonable precaution as any tourist in a new country.
Hey
Thanks for featuring my Barcelona post!
I must admit that the pickpocketing situation is ruining the image of a great city.
Brady- I can definitely vouch that it is very much an everyday issue where lots of tourists and residents get pickpocketed, robbed in daylight.
I visit frequently and in the hostel I stay, everyday residents come in talking of their stuff being stolen. Quite a crazy situation.
If the stolen item is less than 200 euros, the thief only gets an overnight stay in the cell and then has to be released by local law. This is one reason why petty crime like this is so prevalent in Barcelona is on the increase.
Perhaps the only way to get the police to crack down on these people is to stop going to Barcelona. When the issue starts affecting them in their pocketbooks perhaps they will do something. The police are obviously aware of the problem, as are the public officials. Yet, collectively, they refuse to do anything about it. Why? Until they do, just say no to Barcelona. It’s a great city, but enough is enough.