Thieves, pickpockets and theft in Barcelona - what to watch out for?

Precisely because Barcelona is a popular tourist city, it is also very popular here high concentration of various criminal elements - pickpockets, fraudsters or other petty thieves. As tourists, you should be alert in all situations, because you never know what might happen to you.

On one of my visits to Barcelona, ​​I had the honor of speaking with an Asian couple who was robbed twice in one single week! 

I personally had my phone stolen from my pocket in the store while waiting in line to pay. I don't even have to tell you how such a situation can spoil the whole vacation or trip... 

Take a look at the offer of travel insurance from ČSOB >>> 

My safety tips against pickpockets in Barcelona

How to defend against thieves? Prevention is the most effective! Below you will find some tips that will increase your chances of not being robbed, or you minimize the possible loss. 

• most thieves gathers at the street La Rambla, V gothic quarter or v Raval. If you are going there, be very careful.
• likewise, be careful in public transport, especially then in Barcelona Metro – pickpockets take advantage of times when there are many people in one place. They operate mainly at peak times, when it is logical that people will crowd each other.
• pickpockets often operate in groups: e.g., after entering a subway car, they split up, one causing a commotion (to which everyone pays attention) and the other stealing
• the best defense the thing against thieves is that you don't show that you're a tourist. Take your camera off your neck and try your best to blend in with the locals
• avoid crowding. Stamps are a favorite tool of pickpockets to rob you without you noticing. 
• avoid dark alleys - this recommendation mainly concerns the district El Raval, where it is not difficult to get lost. 
• at night don't go to deserted places alone, especially if you are a woman.
• do not participate in any street games (shells, etc.)
• beware if you will watch any performance on the street, living sculptures, musicians, dancers, etc.
• all keep valuables directly on your body, ideally in front of your eyes so that you can see or feel when someone wants to take them from you. 
• if you are traveling with a backpack, wear it on your stomach instead of on your back.
• be vigilant even in perfectly normal situations, when any stranger approaches you, even with complete stupidity (request to take a photo, etc.)
• watch out for fraud when shopping and paying - thieves are really resourceful sometimes and often you will get involved in something without even knowing how. 
• get used to dividing the money into several parts - if you happen to be robbed, at least have some reserve, for example in the hotel safe. I also recommend leaving documents there that you don't need with you in town that day. 
• do not leave your belongings anywhere unattended. Although it sounds like a banality, everything is stolen, it's not for nothing that the locals even lock their bike seats if they get too far from it - they can usually remove it for you. 
• be careful, looks can be deceiving! For example, I saw a situation where passengers on public transport in Barcelona were robbed by a 70-year-old distinguished lady, whom you wouldn't say at all... Children and young people are often involved in the thefts. 

To get a better idea of ​​how pickpockets work in Barcelona, ​​I recommend looking at Patrulla Ciudadana BCN page, where thieves, pickpockets and other fraudsters take photos and videos. 

What to do if you are robbed abroad?

• Call the bank and have it blocked all payment and credit cards. Likewise, block mobile apps and methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• Have the sim card blocked, if your phone is stolen. You prevent thieves from using your phone to make calls, access the Internet or send premium SMS, the price of which is quite high. 
• If you did not have a PIN, password or other protection on your phone, quickly change your access data to all major services (Google, Apple ID, etc.). I also recommend the change as a precaution, if you had some kind of protection there. 
• Jak Apple , So Google offer the option for their phones to report a stolen device, monitor it remotely or erase all content. 
• Once you've done all the steps above, go to the police (in the centre there is a large station, e.g. directly at Pl. Catalunya, map). This is because you will be waiting here for a really long time (even several hours), as thefts are the order of the day here. In general, Barcelona's city police don't have a very good reputation - a lot of people complain that the officials didn't treat them very nicely and that they treated a lot of cases quite carelessly. 

Don't believe the reports that your stolen phone has been found!

I heard that phones are stolen the most in Barcelona. It makes sense - a small piece of cake that could easily be worth several tens of thousands. And if it's not encrypted, it can offer easy access to much higher amounts. 

I personally was robbed in the Raval district, someone took my phone out of my pocket while waiting in the store. Fortunately, I had several levels of protection there, so the thief couldn't get into the phone. He could turn it on, but he didn't get past the initial PIN and other passwords. 

But the thieves are quite sophisticated, because on the second or third day after the theft, a message arrived that my phone was found! This was after I remotely flagged the phone as stolen. 

The message I received appeared to be from Apple. At the end of it was a link asking me to sign in with my Apple ID, i.e. entering a username and password. It's supposed to find out where my iPhone is. Although the message looked credible, the link at the end made it clear that it was a scam - I don't remember what the address looked like, but it certainly wasn't Apple's official website.

In no case do not click on the links that come to you and do not enter any of your data anywhere! That's just thieves using social engineering to trick you with data that they can use to unlock your phone and access its contents (which are often worth more than the device itself). 

Likewise, don't try to catch the thief yourself – even though I could see from a distance where my Apple iPhone was roughly located (on day two it was only 2 kilometers away from me before it stopped), I didn't dare to go to an apartment mortgage and try to find the phone there in the flood of apartments. And even if I did find him, it's better to have the police ringing the thief's doorbell than you. You never know who will be waiting behind them... 

Will the Barcelona police catch the thief? 

Probably not. As far as I know, dozens of theft cases are reported in the city every day and only a fraction of them are solved. 

Personally, when my phone was stolen a few years ago, I didn't even report it to the police. I knew it wouldn't do any good and I would waste part of my vacation waiting at the station and it would be a losing battle beforehand. 

Today, because of that incident, I no longer go out without travel insurance, which covers me even in situations like this. If you have travel insurance, you must report it, because the police will give you a report of the whole event, which you can take to the insurance company. Insurance costs a few crowns and is definitely worth it. Reasonable offers e.g.ČSOB, Allianz or Axa.

It makes sense to report it even, for example, if your documents have been stolen – you need to have an official record of the entire event. With a report from the police, you can, for example, go to the embassy, ​​which will issue you documents that will allow you to return home to your homeland.