Barcelona is a wonderful city, we have been on more than one occasion and never witnessed or been involved with being mugged or pick pocketed.

We are just as likely to be mugged in our own country............ so go and have a good time .

i have seen pickpockets working at the dancing fountains -a young oriental girl with a map supposedly looking for directions and her friend - and am aware that this is also rife in the ramblas area, but by using common sense, ie keeping hold of your bag, not carrying all your valuables in it, not leaving your bag on a seat or on the floor and trying to keep to the inside of the pavements you should not have a problem.
whenever you go somewhere new you should always try to keep your wits about and this probably applies more in barcelona, but i think it is a great city and well worth the visit. take care and you will have a great time.

I have also hears all the stories and take them seriously and am therefore quite cautious in Barcelona.

When we were on a cruise that stopped at Barcelona, one passenger felt himself being jostled, patted his back pocket and was relieved to find his wallet was still there.

However when he got back to the ship and opened his wallet to get his cruise boarding card, it had been removed along with his credit cards. They had removed the cards and put the wallet back in his pocket so that he wouldn't notice for a few hours.

That said I love Barcelona. I just make sure there is nothing of value in any bag I carry and hubby puts his wallet in the front pocket of his jeans.

luci

I must agree with all the comments here you just need to keep your wits about you and don't ware anything of value like ear ring broaches or a necklace.

A good trick I learnt from a friend was carry 2 wallets one in the safes place you can think of and another in the normal trouser back pocket fill it with out of date credit cards and no more that €10 in cash that will give the a big surprise when they go to buy something with the cards.

Ladies I would suggest you use a hand bag with a strap that goes right over your head and shoulder keep it in front of you at all times and your hand on it.

Another favourite trick at the moment running in the Ramblers it the plain clothes cop trick where they come up to you and say we thing you have just had your pockets picked pat you down and away goes your wallet etc.

As stated by most post's here Barcelona is a wonderful city but like any big city you need to suspect everybody and keep your eyes peeled and looking around all the time.

I hope you have a very happy and none eventful stay.

Barcelona (wonderful, wonderful city) is as safe/dangerous as any other city in Europe. Take the usual safety precautions, don't get too drunk and lose your wits and don't carry all your worldly good with you and you will be fine.

Barcelona is a nice city, but the rumours about what you heard are true. It is important that you do what is suggested in this topic. Also be careful in the metro, as it is one of their working grounds. Others are the Rambla, Bario Gotico, Maramagnum and plaza Real.

I would also suggest to pay cash in restaurants and to use your credit card as little as possible. Also be careful when withdrawing money. Put one hand above the other when you type in your credit card number. Be careful with children who approach you when you are withdrawing money. If you are a party of ten, you should have less trouble as you can watch each others backs.

There are a lot of places like the Passeig the Gracia (Shopping streets), Rambla Cataluya (which is not the Rambla people use to talk about, but they should as it is a very nice shopping area), Mira Bau etc which are less populated with thieves.

Other safe places.
- Mirabau bar http://www.frommers.com/destinations/barcelona/N29153.html
- La Illa shopping centre near the Barcelona stadium http://www.lilla.com/introflash.htm. When you are lucky you might walk into famous people.
- Olympic harbour (bars, restaurants, nightlife)
- Avenida Diagonal (shopping street, bars, disco's, restaurants).

It might all seem very dangerous, but it is not. You should only watch your belongings as in any big city.

Have fun, as you can have a lot of fun in Barcelona.

Thanks guys for all your postings which I have read and digested. We have now booked into the Universal hotel on Paral-lel. We have found it very difficult to get booked in anywhere and I have looked at soooooo many hotels and tried to book sooooo many hotels that I am now completely confused as to what area we are staying in. Anyway I am sure we will have a good time, just need to warn the other people in my party to have their wits about them as I do not want to to take on responsibility of watching everyone!!! Hubby will look after me so I'm OK. Thanks again for all your advice and will post when we are back and let you know how we got on.

Anita.

Hi...think I have posted similar info somewhere else but might be usefull here....If I am going somewhere I dont feel 100% safe I only carry enough euros to see me through for a short while in my handbag....The rest I put safe else where on me....I put cash and cards in either a strong plastic bag (the ones you used to bank coins in) or a small thin cloth bag (I made one )....I use a nappy pin to attatch it either inside the top of a snug fitting pair of panties if wearing a skirt or inside the top of my trousers....when I need more cash I pop to the toilet take what I need out of my bag and pin the rest safely back. This way you can relax and if someone goes for your bag you can let it go and and not be tempted to try holding on and getting injured as well as mugged.

My daughter was in Barcelona last weekend on business with 8 colleagues. She is in travel and even though they were all well aware of the reputation of this city one of them was robbed. Dont imagine its easily avoided, these people are professionals and the're good at what they do. Its so common the police are just not interested. Its difficult to enjoy Barcelona when you know you are always being weighed up as a possible victim.

Hi folks,

Firstly would like to thank you all for your advice and secondly would just like to let you all know that my trip to Barcelona went well. All ten of us thoroughly enjoyed the sights and had some great evenings out. We were all very very careful and cautious and I am pleased to say we had a brilliant time without any incidents so, although I think I was right to be cautious, I think I worried needlessly. Flights with Ryanair to Girona were on time, Shuttle Direct's service was top notch and our Hotel (Barcelona Universal on Paral-lel) was first class. Will be posting a review on the Hotel section.

Sorry to hear about your daughter's experience rdv - it would appear she was one of the many unlucky tourists.

Till next time....................

Anita.

Glad to hear all went well Anita - we are popping into Barcelona for the day in January and am going to warn our party of 12 to take care - be on the safe side.