This e-mail was sent in by Niamh from Ireland I'm just back from a week in Barcelona and unfortunately all did not go to plan. I had read the Safety Tips but I should have made my partner read them too.
We had gotten the train from the airport to Passeig de Gracia and were getting off the train. He got held up by a supposedly elderly woman in front of him. By the time he had realised there was something wrong, they had made off with his wallet and all his spending money for the week. Unfortunately because he hadn't visited this website, he had decided that putting his wallet in his bag was safer than in his trousers as his trousers had no zips. He had also taken his wallet out of his bag on the train and obviously was being watched. I would advise everyone to read the Safety Advice themselves and to make sure that everyone else in their group reads them too. Those extra few minutes may just save you heartbreak of having your holiday ruined.
Editor's note: Thanks for writing in Niamh and sorry to hear about your experience. The important thing is to keep wallets and purses out of sight. Take them out when you need them but discreetly. Only carry as much money that you need for the day. Watch out particularly at train and metro stations. Places where people can press up against you. Train stations are also particularly bad areas for pickpockets because they can easily identify where you keep your wallet because you need to pay for your ticket. In addition many tourists keep travel tickets in their wallets / purses. Once you've paid for a ticket all a pickpocket needs to do is watch where you put your wallet / purse. You can overcome this by doing 2 things:
1) Purchase your travel tickets in advance. A travel pass will mean you do not have to reach for your wallet to pay for tickets. A travel pass can be purchased for the duration of your visit and can be purchased in advance of your visit. One such travel pass is the Barcelona Card which also includes many discounts to Barcelona attractions.
Click here to read more about the Barcelona Card.
2) Do not put your travel ticket in your wallet or purse but put it somewhere where you can readily obtain it. This way when you need to take out your tickets a pickpocket will have no idea where you keep your wallet / purse.
