Targeted by Pickpockets in Barcelona

We had been warned. We were aware. And it still happened to us in the first hour we were in Barcelona. But we were lucky! Really lucky!

I hadn’t seen Cynthia in almost two years. She was the last friend I saw before we moved from Texas, and we’ve been very close for over three decades. She had just flown into Barcelona after visiting Seville with some friends, and I had just taken the train up from Valencia. Meeting up at our Airbnb, we were absolutely giddy being together again and spending the next four days in Barcelona!

After quickly checking in and settling our things in our room, we head out to the meeting place for our first adventure, a walking tour of Barcelona’s Old Town. Phones in hand and a flapping hotel map, we have a 30-minute trek to The Old Post Office where we’ll meet our guide and tour group. To say we looked like a giant red bullseye is an understatement. I’m HORRIBLE with directions and struggle mightily to read a map. I kept looking up and around saying, “I’m so disoriented. Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Fortunately, Cynthia is much better at map reading than I am and is guiding us in the right direction with her phone’s Google map, but we’re excited to be on this quest and still giddy about being together – even more so in this fabulous city. We were exactly the marks they were looking for. 

It’s an absolutely beautiful day and not crowded on the streets so we take it for granted that our bags are safe on our backs. I’d been warned about cell phones being grabbed right out of your hand so I’m thinking more about that and wondering if we’re getting offtrack than the security of our bags. 

About halfway to our meeting spot, I notice my backpack purse is unsnapped and unzipped and flapping open. “What the hell!” I assume that I left our Airbnb with it like that. Uh, probably not. I never do that. But at this point, I’m thinking I just forgot. I don’t think I even checked to make sure my valuables were still there. 

When we reach the meeting place, we still have time for a quick bite before the tour starts. Cynthia then realizes that every zipper, and there were many, on her sling bag, have been unzipped and she cannot find her wallet. At the same time, I swing my backpack around and it’s wide open again! Panicking this time, I dig down to the bottom searching for the tiny zippered coin purse that I use to hold my credit card, ATM card, a bit of cash and my NIE (Spanish resident card, which would be very hard to replace). It’s all there! And because Cynthia mentioned she was leaving her passport in the room, I had taken mine out of my bag and left it in the hotel after checking the balcony and making sure the room would be very difficult to break in. Thank you, Cynthia!

But, Cynthia is not feeling so lucky at this point. It appears her wallet has been lifted. After a couple of minutes of us both feeling sick that our trip is already going to have this inauspicious beginning, I think maybe she left her wallet in the room. I remember seeing it on the glass table and commenting on how cute it was – tan with little colorful flowers. We call Katharina, who we had just met while checking in and ask her to check the room for us. She calls us back in a few minutes and describes the tan wallet with flowers! YES!!!! In all our excitement, Cynthia had forgotten to put it in her bag. Alleluia!!!!

So I’m writing this post to remind travelers, just like us – excited, disoriented, distracted – there are things you can and should do to protect yourself. The rest of the week, I only took my phone, which I use like a wallet with my credit card activated for purchasing with my fingerprint and €12 (all the cash I had ) and put them in a small crossbody bag that I wear in the front and can keep my hand on at all times. Cynthia kept her sling bag front and forward and we made the conscious decision to not both be looking at our phones at the same time. We moved close to a building if she was checking directions to reduce the number of people swirling around us, and I became the lookout to make sure no one was coming too close. At cafes, we’d remind each other when one of us would forget and put our phone down on the table. Habits are hard to break and even in an adorable or upscale setting where it seemed unlikely that anyone would grab it, leaving a phone on the table would be tempting fate as well as thieves. 

I wasn’t loving Barcelona the first 24 hours. We were on high alert and felt vulnerable. I didn’t sleep well that first night, and realized then that when I thought I had left the hotel with my bag open that it was probably a first attempt. This made me feel even more unsettled to know he or she kept trying and that we were followed. 

Eventually, we relaxed, but stayed vigilant, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our trip.

Tips to Avoid Getting Robbed

These thieves are professionals. You might think you’d feel your wallet lifted, but they have ways to make it feel normal and completely unnoticeable. Here are are few tips to reduce your risk of being pickpocketed.

1. Limit what you carry. If you’ve got a credit card, you don’t need a lot of cash. Secure your passport, ID, and any other credit and ATM cards in the hotel room safe. 

2. Keep your bag on you front and forward. I saw people wearing a fanny pack like a cross body bag with the bag across their collarbone and the latch under their arm. This seemed to work well.

3. When dining, never put your bag on the ground or the chair next to you. Keep it on your lap with the strap wrapped around your leg. A friend of mine had a small purse stolen from the back of her chair inside a very nice restaurant in Valencia. She told me the restaurant’s video revealed him to be “really good” at it. 

4. Don’t wear expensive watches – this makes you even more of a mark. 

5. Grabbing phones when people are taking selfies has become quite common in tourist-filled areas. Thieves work in pairs, so your phone is grabbed and the two run in opposite directions so you don’t know which one has it. Even worse, they purposely grab it while it’s unlocked leaving you vulnerable to having your passwords stolen. 

I hope sharing our story saves you from the anguish and inconvenience of being robbed. For additional tips read What To Do If Your Purse Is Lost or Stolen in Spain offering ways to protect your documents before you go along with next steps if you do find yourself a victim of pickpockets or purse snatchers.

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