Quote:
Originally Posted by inadeje
Thanks for your feedback. I have spent so much time in Barcelona that I have literally lost count. Maybe I am looking through rose colored glasses however, as the things you cite I have never experienced and I have been there “a lot”. However, I’m 6ft, stocky, etc. Maybe it just never happens to or near me...don’t know. I won’t question you nor place your view in doubt. I’ve been several times with my teen daughters over the past 2 years and, we walked everywhere, staying at plaza Cataluņa across from corte ingles. Maybe I’ve been just lucky in 20+ years visiting.
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I get the sensation of a little bit of rose colored glasses, yes. That as long as you're not in Ramblas, you're okay. Really not the case. Glad you've had a good historical run, though. I never had any issues in 4 years myself with theft or robberies to my detriment, but I was within a few feet of pickpocketing in action on several occasions. One time I even forewarned the guy (with his wife, obvious English tourists) who was about to get pickpocketed.
I was walking 5 meters behind this tourist in the metro tunnel, the thieves were coming from the opposite direction walking towards them and I. They saw him and his wife, walked and talked past them, nearly past me, turned as they got to me and walked back up behind him and his wife. Couple was clueless, I had no doubt about what they were up to. They sat near him on the long concrete bench waiting for the metro they had just gotten out of, eyeing him when possible. I take a seat near him also, on his other side. I'm just eyeballing them the whole time as I sat near him on the other side, so as they looked to him they could see me just beyond him staring right at them, basically saying "I see what you're up to and I will gladly describe all of you." They got on the train with him anyways. Freaking raccoons weren't backing down. Ballsy bastards. I gave him the heads up in English and got off at the next stop. Don't know the ending to that one.
Another time they targeted the people getting on the bus due to a metro construction situation between two stops where a bus was shuttling people in lieu of the metro. Eight feet in front of me as I'm sitting on the bus a guy got on the bus, acted nonchalant as he stood near a young woman who was standing in the middle, and then tried to snatch some valuables from inside her purse (I think he was using a jacket for cover) and bolt, but he wasn't successful. One guy nearly clobbered the thief as he had trouble getting out of the bus once he tried to do his thing and people tried to get a hold of said thief before he could escape. He managed to get out and run off despite others trying to momentarily hold him inside.
The Paris thieves have better form, I'd say. My lady friend and I at the time weren't 5 minutes removed from the Paris Orly airport when someone opened the outer compartment of her luggage as we were lugging it up the stairs to catch the train into the city. They took a few items but nothing of any value was in that compartment. They didn't have time to try more, really. I didn't even see anyone come near us, and I'm aware of my surroundings (I'm former military and had a CCW while living in the States). I'm not the typical clueless sheep. So that was quite skillful on their part, however they managed it. Smart location, too, as non-French speaking tourists are at that point just figuring out where to go. They get you before you have any chance to spend it.