@Oli
I got anxiety just reading that & I’m lying in bed at home 
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Zipper on pants and shorts also. ZIPPERED UP.
Teo said:
Zipper on pants and shorts also. ZIPPERED UP.
Not so fast! I caught a guy trying to unzip my pocket at my knee on the metro in Rome. He had a fake arm with a jacket over it to block my view.
@Jai
You caught him, didn’t you? Anything to obstruct the pickpocketing helps.
I know it’s dorky and not completely thief-proof, but I carried a small Pacsafe crossbody bag in Barcelona. It never left my body when I was outside of my hotel room, and when I wore a coat, I kept the bag under my coat. I also switched to an old phone I didn’t care about instead of my expensive phone, and I kept it on a wrist strap. My passport, most of my cash, and a backup credit card stayed in the room. Carry as little as possible so that if you get pickpocketed, the damage is minimal.
With all that said, nothing happened to me in the 10 days I was there, and I loved Barcelona. I would go back, but for me it wasn’t really a relaxing place to vacation because I knew I couldn’t let my guard down.
Hello! I am from Bolivia. Carrying your bag on your back is something first-world… or it doesn’t seem so anymore.
My advice?
Double lined front bag. Why do they cut the bag so that things fall out?
Carry your bag forward and never put valuables in small pockets. The forwards.
The cell phone on the street? If you are with someone, one keeps watch and the other checks the cell phone. If you hear a motorcycle, you put your cell phone away.
If you are alone you go against a tree or a wall. And if you have long sleeves, half of the cell phone inside the sleeve.
If it’s night and they ask you the time, there’s no reason to take out your cell phone. You say you don’t know.
It is prohibited to carry valuables in your back pocket. In front yes, but it should not be a very large pocket. It must be fair and be able to feel the object.
If someone stops you on the street, HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS! or… you grab the zipper of the bag and keep it closed…
Don’t use your cell phone with the car or bus window open; they will grab it! Careful!
That’s all I can think of. 
I hope it never happens like this in Europe, and if you come here, follow these humble tips.
Barcelona definitely has some of the most audacious pickpockets I’ve seen. My friends and I were walking on a smaller street, and a few young guys came up and asked my guy friends for a lighter. The other guy asked me for a hug (yes, dumb to engage; this is a cautionary tale, and I was a teenager). A third guy swiped my phone from my pocket from behind me. I turned around and pointed to him and said, ‘that guy took my phone!’ He denied it and let me check his pockets. No phone. Before he could turn away, I pulled up his shirt; there it was, right in his waistband. I grabbed it so fast and proceeded to not bring my phone out with me for the rest of the trip (didn’t have service anyway, so just used a friend’s phone with service for navigation, etc.).
@Denny
Wow, you are quick on your feet in that situation. Good troubleshooting.
Indy said:
@Denny
Wow, you are quick on your feet in that situation. Good troubleshooting.
The things a chronically online teen who couldn’t afford a new phone can do when the ‘can’t feel my phone in my pocket’ fight or flight reflex kicks in 
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Careful. They usually operate as a group.
Next time throw him down the escalator.
Totally agree. Pickpocketing is so common there. My husband put his bag on the back of a chair at a restaurant and had to replace his passport, driver’s license, AirPods, prescription sunglasses, and more. We knew how common pickpocketing was there, but he just didn’t really think about it in the moment.
On the plus side, the US Consulate is extremely efficient with passport replacements and pretty nice. We got his emergency passport in 2 days.
I also got horrific food poisoning in Barcelona that carried over while we visited Portugal as well. It really put a damper on the trip. I don’t really have an interest in going back.
So all that to say, carry the minimum amount of stuff with you as possible. Leave your house keys and home car keys at the hotel in a safe. And keep your bag tightly guarded and close to you at all times.
@MarkOwen2
Why did you feel you had to share the info about you getting food poisoning?
Only city I’ve ever been successfully pickpocketed in. I was paying for a coffee and two 12-13-year-old girls bumped against me. My wallet was in my hand, and by the time they’d apologized and moved on, I looked down and they’d deftly taken all my cash.
A hotel worker told me they like to target people eating ice cream, especially in the summer. While one hand holds the ice cream and the other hand spoons, elbows are likely up, and your pockets are easily accessible.
Reminds me of when I worked in the best Irish Pub (Flaherty’s, now closed, sadly) in Seville.
Any time one of the staff saw anyone shady (we all kind of always knew who they were and we had a lot of Sevillans working there too), I used to get called over.
I absolutely LOVED catching them in the act, getting back whatever they took, escorting them out, and of course giving them cupla slaps on the way. One actually squealed, which was funny.
My dad was hit up by the nicest pickpocketer. Took his cash and returned his wallet in the opposite pocket. Didn’t take any cards. This was in Porto.
I caught one trying to pickpocket my wife waiting for the metro in Barcelona. I pushed her to the side a bit, and it made his hand come out, so he kept walking. Played it off cool. Went up to him a few mins later and put my hand in his pocket and made eye contact:joy:.
We don’t keep shit in our back pockets. EVER.
On the Metro, those fuckers had their fingers in our back pockets more often than not.
All of us, my large husband, my kids. Couldn’t help it; got fed up and yelled. Guy was drunk. Acted all innocent.
My husband was worried it would turn physical.
My son said he swears when we distracted yelling at the drunk pickpocketer, a whole other pickpocketer was circling the altercation.
Fucking ridiculous.
Thankfully I’ve been to Barcelona many times, so I don’t have the urge to visit again, but it’s still unfortunate to hear what’s happening in this city. Not that it ever was the bastion of tourist safety.