@Uma
I spent many months there over the past 20 years, and I love it. It has always been spicy/sketchy.
Good PSA, planning to go there this fall.
Locals yell pickpocket to warn others; it’s kinda funny how they follow the thief too.
I went to Barcelona over 10 years ago, and almost got my purse snatched on the subway. Another girl had her brand new iPhone stolen when a guy dropped his newspaper on it, apologized/made a small scene, and swiped her phone with the newspaper. The pickpockets there are legendary.
I was on a stag/bachelor party in Barcelona recently with a dozen guys, and no one was pickpocketed, miraculously. Considering we were drunk a considerable amount of the time, I don’t know how we got away with it.
Heading to Barcelona in April, so me, my nephew, and my brother-in-law thank you in advance!
Yup, got my brand new iPhone stolen in my hotel at breakfast in Barcelona.
Why would the escalator “stop”?
You mean if the guy in front of you stops? If the escalator malfunctions?
Rin said:
Why would the escalator “stop”?
You mean if the guy in front of you stops? If the escalator malfunctions?
The kill switch is easy to access. The stoppage functions as a distraction.
@Jesse
So you’re saying there’s a guy at the top/bottom pressing the kill switch, working with someone who’s standing right behind you?
Would probably help if you clarified that in the OP.
Rin said:
@Jesse
So you’re saying there’s a guy at the top/bottom pressing the kill switch, working with someone who’s standing right behind you?
Would probably help if you clarified that in the OP.
The whole area was uncrowded (plenty of people around but in a big space, it was this escalator up to the front of the art museum in Montjuic). It was daytime, and we were the only people near it when we got on the escalator.
When we were about halfway up, the steps suddenly stopped moving, and before we reached the top by walking up them, I got a vibe and spun around, pulling my bag zip from the guy’s hand; it was about a quarter open. The two guys appeared behind us from nowhere.
If they’d come close to us in the square or while getting on the escalator, it would have been suspicious. I presume they hit the kill switch to catch up to us in the enclosed stair space before we were out in the next level of the square, and to have an excuse to be walking up so close behind us. It’s the kind of place where people stand on escalators and don’t run up them.
@Joss
The escalator stopping might have been a coincidence or possibly someone watching from a security camera giving you a heads up.
I’m literally heading to Barcelona tomorrow from Figueres. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Bag is always on front, but good to know.
I wear shorts under my pants when I’m alone overseas. I always have a copy of my passport with me, but I leave the actual passport at the place I’m staying. I only travel with 1 credit card (I never take my debit card with me), and I get a moderate amount of cash for anywhere that doesn’t take credit cards. Cellphone goes inside jacket pocket or within pants’ pockets.
@Reagan
Shorts underneath. Great tip. Gonna use that.
Do not place your cell phones in your back pocket. Everyone seems to be carrying them that way, and it’s an easy grab, especially in a crowd.
Jokes on the pickpockets; I put my wallet down my underwear, they can fiddle down there all day long.
What happens if you punch them in the face?
I use a luggage lock on my backpack whenever I travel, and my purse has a locking mechanism. I still keep it in front and tightly held by my hand.
Teo said:
A few years ago, Spanish people proudly welcomed refugees. Does it have anything to do with this? Last I was in Madrid and Barcelona, there were no issues.
These guys were European.