Safety! Recent reports say pickpockets & thefts are way up in Spain

[theresairby]

I have read and heard that thieves are targeting tourists in spain... pick pockets, and peoples luggage etc have been stolen and this criminal activity is on the rise! Is this or has this been a problem for pilgrims the past few weeks at all?

 

[Diegomartine]

That's maybe because the current crisis on Spain

 

[amorfati1]

I have read and heard that thieves are targeting tourists in spain... pick pockets, and peoples luggage etc have been stolen and this criminal activity is on the rise! Is this or has this been a problem for pilgrims the past few weeks at all?

It maybe not the info you were looking for, but the only item stolen from 'my' belongings was in the Seminario Menor in Santiago - on the last day of being there . So, one could call that a pilgrim on pilgrim crime?
Be not too concerned - yet keep your common sense and wits about you -
it's the good ol' : "tie the knees of the camel and trust in God/Allah".
Other that the incident noted above, there was no other incident I even heard about ... and I walked for four full weeks!

and --- when stating : "i have read / heard / recent reports, etc", it might be useful to provide a source/link. thanks.

 

[wayfarer]

There is and always tourist crime in cities In Spain and all over europe. I have heard of people being pickpocketed and having items stolen from bags for the last thirty years. As amorfati says its mostly down to being aware and common sense.

 

[Al the optimist]

Not sure where you are from. Spain is no worse than anywhere in Europe and maybe better than some countries. Tourists the world over are targets. Things are generally safer on the Camino than in the cities, especially in the smaller villages. So be as cautious as you normally are when travelling, but don't let paranoia spoil the experience. Common sense says to keep all valuables on you at all times, even when showering. Take extra care when in cities. Pickpockets will assume as a pilgrim/tourist you have money and valuables, just don't make it obvious where or easy to get at. There are threads on the forum about what you can do. Do take time to read them, they will give many viewpoints and suggestions. But the Camino is a very safe place compared to normal city life. Have faith, enjoy, but take steps to ensure you enjoy the experience.

 

[MichaelSG]

and --- when stating : "i have read / heard / recent reports, etc", it might be useful to provide a source/link. thanks.

Great advice. Until I see the source of the information, I treat it as just someone's imagination running wild.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

2013

https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=13661

2014

https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=15065

 

[naplesdon]

Because of the "current crisis in Spain" oh, please; isn't that the same crisis in Miami, Chicago, London, Paris, etc., etc., where one is much more likely to be robbed or have a pocket picked.
Follow all of the simple, practical advice that has been posted on this forum for years and your belongings will be safer than spending a Christmas weekend with your close friends and family.
I never heard any stories about a thief since last year when someone told me she had left her backpack in a public area of a night train between Madrid and Porto. She sat in her seats in Madrid watching a group of very sketchy young guys board the train and at the next stop they got off the train with her bag just as the train was departing. She admitted that she was jet lagged and her guard was down.
I was out there this year from early June to late July and the only thing I had stolen were the items I forgot to remove from the drying lines and of course "my heart and spirit" which are still resting in Spain.

 

[theresairby]

Thank you y'all.... I'm not to concerned .. Some friends in UK said that it was on the news lately...I assured them that in 2012 when i hiked the frances I had no worries, except a bit cautious in bigger cities...this year (sept) I'll be on the Del Norte, most of the "tourists" season will be over lol ...I wanted to put their minds at ease....

 

[peregrina2000]

2013

https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=13661

2014

https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=15065

Falcon's 2014 link actually reports a decrease in crime of all types in Spain. Homicides down the most (12%), but the smallest decrease was in theft (down 0.7%), which is of course the crime most likely to affect pilgrims, especially foreign pilgrims.

 

[cher99840]

2013
https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=13661

2014
https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=15065

Sometimes I wonder if you are a real person or a computer----such a wealth of information!!

 

[xin loi]

Clothes, food, inserts for footgear taken at Albergues in May/June but nothing really expensive. Once we left the Camino and arrived in Madrid, my novia had her purse "pick pocketed" and all of her cash stolen. Hotel staff said it occurs daily as Camino pilgrims are so easy for pick pockets to spot at Metro, Train station, bus station. Pack with shell; look tired; look lost and noted for carrying cash.

Go on youtube and watch the many vids that specifically address pick pockets in Spain--one says that one specific large train station has 85 professional pick pockets working the tourists.

 

[peregrina2000]

I've probably said this a million times (well, maybe not as often as I talk about carrying hiking poles onto the plane), but in my experience the only way to protect yourself from pickpocketers is to not have anything in a place that they can access. Spaniards have a sixth sense about this, they are alert without being consciously alert because it's their milieu. If you live in a place where pickpocketing isn't a constant threat, no matter how hard you try, I don't think you are going to develop that sense. And when you lapse into careless oblivion, the pickpockets see it and pounce. Carry cards, money, passport under your clothes in a pouch, have cameras in the bottom of your pack, etc etc. The real benefit is that if all of your valuables are inaccessible, you don't have to worry. I once realized that a pickpocket had managed to open my purse on the Madrid metro, but since the only things in it were my eyeglasses, some Kleenex, chapstick and a few other trivial things, when I realized it, I just smiled and stuck out my tongue (maybe juvenile, but it gave me great pleasure). He got off at the next stop.

 

[bystander]

I've probably said this a million times (well, maybe not as often as I talk about carrying hiking poles onto the plane), but in my experience the only way to protect yourself from pickpocketers is to not have anything in a place that they can access.

Peregrina2000 has this all summed up in one sentence!

As anywhere and anytime a lot of thefts are through the carelessness of the owners thus providing opportunity to the thief.
I have seen on many occasions here in England someone in a pub leave their mobile phone on the bar or table top whilst they go to the loo.
I once saw a woman in a cafe at Waterloo Station in London put their handbag on the floor alongside their seat. A boy from the back of the cafe sprinted forward and grabbed it. However someone at the front of the cafe had seen what had a happened, put a foot out and tripped the thief up. He dropped the handbag and escaped. If the woman had thought to put the leg of her chair through the handle of the bag (there was no room for it on the table top) the attempted theft wouldn't have occurred.

If you value it, take care of it. Hide it, secrete it, don't flaunt it. It's common sense.

 

[xin loi]

Ever see the guy from Las Vegas on TV who shows what a real pick pocket is capable of doing? He picks out a couple in a crowd and takes the woman's drivers license out of her wallet that is in her purse and then takes her husbands wallet from his pocket, puts the license into her husbands wallet and puts the wallet back in her husbands pocket. Claims he has never been caught doing this exhibition of his skills. We were quickly surrounded by four strangers when leaving a Metro station in Madrid and my novias cash disappeared with one of them.

 

[Tincatinker]

There is a highly organised gang of thieves operating across the whole of Europe at present. They extort money, take what is not theirs for their own personal benefit and rely on the acquiescence of both pilgrim and resident to ensure the success of their continued thievery. I won't name them because if I did I'd have to send myself a reprimand and some warning points.

Pickpockets and thieves have been preying on the naive since punters acquired more possessions than the clothes they stood in, sometimes even for those scant rags. For even almost the same length of history there has been those who will warn the would be pilgrim "there be dragons, or worse...". Usually without any topical knowledge, or worse, knowledge gained from hearsay.

By European Union measures Spain is a safer country than most. Professional predators will focus on Madrid, Barcelona and the Costas as they have always done. On the Caminos normal caution will prevail. Just please don't hang your money belt off the end of your bunk while you take a leisurely shower or tuck your wallet in a back pocket in a crowded city bar or leave your handbag/camera on the table while you slip to the loo.

 

[bystander]

There is a highly organised gang of thieves operating across the whole of Europe at present. They extort money, take what is not theirs for their own personal benefit and rely on the acquiescence of both pilgrim and resident to ensure the success of their continued thievery.

They're called governments!

Ooops, just broke a Forum rule

Slap my wrists, Mods!

 

[Tincatinker]

Naughty Bystander! Members will recall that forum rules discourage political references. This thread is about avoiding the bandits that can be avoided, not those that can't.

 

[Olivares]

Pickpocketing is not a crime of violence, it is a crime of opportunity. It is also NOT a crime of isolation, but the opposite as crowds present the best opportunities to a gifted pickpocketer. I have been walking the Camino every year since 2011 (2013 I was on the Camino twice) and the trend that I have seen spike considerably is not pickpocketing, but money robberies at albergues, apparently by people impersonating pilgrims. Whoever is doing this is not looking for mercandise, but actual cash and it picks pilgrims along the Camino, goes in wherever they do, and then makes the move when the pilgrim(s) go to the shower, kitchen, into town, etc.... I talked to 3 people on my last Camino that got money stolen. BTW, I got pickpocketed in Barcelona, a city that while beautiful, has the notorious reputation of having the best pickpocketers in the world.

This past July after finishing my Camino in Finisterre, I mailed my bag, boots, and clothes from the Vimianzo post office. I sealed the box myself and processed at the Vimianzo Post office. Three weeks later I opened the box at my house in the US and HALF of my clothes were gone, they actually picked well the best pieces . In the place of the missing clothing I found a used ceramic large cup which weigh would compensate for the weight that was taken out and not tip inspectors checking paid freight weight fee versus actual weight. I contacted the Post Office at Vimianzo and they already have an open investigation for similar complaints pointing to the mail stop in.....Barcelona. Surprise, Surprise.....

 

[Olivares]

Not sure where you are from. Spain is no worse than anywhere in Europe and maybe better than some countries..

Nope, not a chance, sorry. MOST cities in Spain are definitely safe, maybe even safer that many cities in the world. HOWEVER, BARCELONA, MADRID, nad BOGOTA (Colombia) have the notorious reputation of being the WORST Pickpocketing Cities in the World. Several DOCUMENTARIES have been filmed in Barcelona on this by filmakers around the world. What other city has "that privilege"? Go any day, any time to any police sttaion around center Barcelona. The line of tourists looking for police reports due to pickpocketing is out the door. Talking from experience here. I was pickpocketed in Barcelona. I was carrying an anti-theft purse around my neck. THAT is how GOOD they are!! I wrote a letter -email to the Mayor's Office in Barcelona. You want to know the answer I got?: Pickpocketing in the city of Barcelona is not a local problem, tourists are the main target. SWEET! In other words, so long as the tourists provide the target for these criminals, the issue of pickpocketing is not a problem for their constituency. Consequently, the local govenment does not have a problem. Lovely.....

Again, pickpocketing is not the issue on the Camino. Be cautious where you leave valuables, quite simple.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

I met a finger happy kid in Paris, I introduced finger happy kid to a subway wall.

 

[tploomis]

I was pickpocketed in the Atocha train station in Madrid in September, 2013. And my wallet was on a tether, too! I was distracted by the woman's attractiveness, the impression she was trying to help us find the right train track, and what appeared to be an accidental bump just as the deed was done. I was an obvious target: disoriented from two days of not sleeping on plane rides, lost in the railway station, and blundering around. To this day I marvel at the artistry demonstrated by the pickpocket --amazing what she pulled off!

 

[bystander]

I was pickpocketed in the Atocha train station in Madrid in September, 2013. And my wallet was on a tether, too! I was distracted by the woman's attractiveness,

Me too, wasn't in Madrid, nor was I technically pickpocketed, but my wallet has been continuously emptied ever since.
It was 38 years ago and I'm still married to her...........

 

[tploomis]

Me too, wasn't in Madrid, nor was I technically pickpocketed, but my wallet has been continuously emptied ever since.
It was 38 years ago and I'm still married to her...........

Nice to know I'm not the only one who has succumbed to a woman's charms!

 

[valgongs]

I've probably said this a million times (well, maybe not as often as I talk about carrying hiking poles onto the plane), but in my experience the only way to protect yourself from pickpocketers is to not have anything in a place that they can access. Spaniards have a sixth sense about this, they are alert without being consciously alert because it's their milieu. If you live in a place where pickpocketing isn't a constant threat, no matter how hard you try, I don't think you are going to develop that sense. And when you lapse into careless oblivion, the pickpockets see it and pounce. Carry cards, money, passport under your clothes in a pouch, have cameras in the bottom of your pack, etc etc. The real benefit is that if all of your valuables are inaccessible, you don't have to worry. I once realized that a pickpocket had managed to open my purse on the Madrid metro, but since the only things in it were my eyeglasses, some Kleenex, chapstick and a few other trivial things, when I realized it, I just smiled and stuck out my tongue (maybe juvenile, but it gave me great pleasure). He got off at the next stop.

Ah maybe you can help as I haven't seen your previous posts - if I take my rucksack as hand luggage on the plane can I store my poles in the pack or does the pack need to go in the hold?
Thanks Val

 

[donalomahony]

Buy your poles on arrival. Unlikely that you will be allowed them in cabin as hand-baggage. Lots of shops in SJPP and Pamplona. One in Zubiri but can be expensive.

 

[obinjatoo]

I've probably said this a million times (well, maybe not as often as I talk about carrying hiking poles onto the plane), but in my experience the only way to protect yourself from pickpocketers is to not have anything in a place that they can access. Spaniards have a sixth sense about this, they are alert without being consciously alert because it's their milieu. If you live in a place where pickpocketing isn't a constant threat, no matter how hard you try, I don't think you are going to develop that sense. And when you lapse into careless oblivion, the pickpockets see it and pounce. Carry cards, money, passport under your clothes in a pouch, have cameras in the bottom of your pack, etc etc. The real benefit is that if all of your valuables are inaccessible, you don't have to worry. I once realized that a pickpocket had managed to open my purse on the Madrid metro, but since the only things in it were my eyeglasses, some Kleenex, chapstick and a few other trivial things, when I realized it, I just smiled and stuck out my tongue (maybe juvenile, but it gave me great pleasure). He got off at the next stop.

I've asked you a billion times not to exaggerate!

 

[xin loi]

Don't know if it is done in Spain , but in what the Spanish still refer to as "Spanish America", it is very common for bags to be just cut open with a razor. Lot of backpackers traveling there buy a chicken wire mesh cage to insert in their packs and purses.

 

[peregrina2000]

So, after all of this discussion, can we agree that the facts do not comport with the title of this thread? Pickpockets and theft are NOT way up in Spain (see falcon's links). It's bad, no doubt, but it is no worse than it was two years ago. And thankfully, I don't think there's any need for chicken wire inserts in our packs. Not yet, anyway.

 

[rector]

There is a highly organised gang of thieves operating across the whole of Europe at present. They extort money, take what is not theirs for their own personal benefit and rely on the acquiescence of both pilgrim and resident to ensure the success of their continued thievery. I won't name them because if I did I'd have to send myself a reprimand and some warning points.

Pickpockets and thieves have been preying on the naive since punters acquired more possessions than the clothes they stood in, sometimes even for those scant rags. For even almost the same length of history there has been those who will warn the would be pilgrim "there be dragons, or worse...". Usually without any topical knowledge, or worse, knowledge gained from hearsay.

By European Union measures Spain is a safer country than most. Professional predators will focus on Madrid, Barcelona and the Costas as they have always done. On the Caminos normal caution will prevail. Just please don't hang your money belt off the end of your bunk while you take a leisurely shower or tuck your wallet in a back pocket in a crowded city bar or leave your handbag/camera on the table while you slip to the loo.

Having had €90 removed from my wallet several years ago on the Costa del Sol by two ladies I met two more ladies in Granada two years later who wished to strike up the same conversation I asked them if I looked that stupid (I had matured since the first incident) and walked the other way these ladies had a similar appearance two the first two. This year we met two more ladies of similar appearance carrying clipboards walking through the vineyards just before Cacabelos wishing to start a conversation. It is amazing how fast one can travel with a 25lb pack! So I think I know who your gang are.

 

[sriyantra]

I was pickpocketed in the Atocha train station in Madrid in September, 2013. And my wallet was on a tether, too! I was distracted by the woman's attractiveness, the impression she was trying to help us find the right train track, and what appeared to be an accidental bump just as the deed was done. I was an obvious target: disoriented from two days of not sleeping on plane rides, lost in the railway station, and blundering around. To this day I marvel at the artistry demonstrated by the pickpocket --amazing what she pulled off!

Now you have scared me. We will be travelling to Pamplona via Atocha train station in Madrid in 3 weeks. We will look like the typical peregrinos and there is nothing we can do about that. Wherever we travel we try to be aware so we will have to be extra vigilant. I am presuming there will be some kind of large board showing departures/arrivals and the track to go to. Am I right with that? We already have our tickets. I was going to have breakfast at the station but it might be more prudent to take something, find the track and then sit and eat. I am now thinking of devious ways I can conceal money/cards! Thanks for the warning.

 

[trevorcc]

Nice to know I'm not the only one who has succumbed to a woman's charms!

agree

 

[trevorcc]

Now you have scared me. We will be travelling to Pamplona via Atocha train station in Madrid in 3 weeks. We will look like the typical peregrinos and there is nothing we can do about that. Wherever we travel we try to be aware so we will have to be extra vigilant. I am presuming there will be some kind of large board showing departures/arrivals and the track to go to. Am I right with that? We already have our tickets. I was going to have breakfast at the station but it might be more prudent to take something, find the track and then sit and eat. I am now thinking of devious ways I can conceal money/cards! Thanks for the warning.

Relax, take the normal precautions do not put your money or cards together, I found less problem in Spain than in Melbourne just treat people as honest folk and do not let a few ruin your trip.

 

[sriyantra]

Relax, take the normal precautions do not put your money or cards together, I found less problem in Spain than in Melbourne just treat people as honest folk and do not let a few ruin your trip.

Thank you for the reassurance. I am by nature a positive person but I also know I can be too trusting, so a sensible Pilgrim I will be keeping all in perspective!!! See you in SJPP. Buen Camino

 

[tploomis]

Now you have scared me. We will be travelling to Pamplona via Atocha train station in Madrid in 3 weeks. We will look like the typical peregrinos and there is nothing we can do about that. Wherever we travel we try to be aware so we will have to be extra vigilant. I am presuming there will be some kind of large board showing departures/arrivals and the track to go to. Am I right with that? We already have our tickets. I was going to have breakfast at the station but it might be more prudent to take something, find the track and then sit and eat. I am now thinking of devious ways I can conceal money/cards! Thanks for the warning.

I think the Atocha train station in Madrid is a safe place, as long as you take precautions and don't telegraph to others that you are vulnerable. I completely forgot about pick pocketers as I was blundering around. If I had thought about it for two seconds, I would have made sure my wallet was securely tucked away, and I would have been watchful for people looking to take advantage. I would recommend being alert yet calm as an appropriate frame of mind to approach crowded situations while traveling. Believe me, after being pick pocketed, I learned quickly!

 

[tploomis]

Now you have scared me. We will be travelling to Pamplona via Atocha train station in Madrid in 3 weeks. We will look like the typical peregrinos and there is nothing we can do about that. Wherever we travel we try to be aware so we will have to be extra vigilant. I am presuming there will be some kind of large board showing departures/arrivals and the track to go to. Am I right with that? We already have our tickets. I was going to have breakfast at the station but it might be more prudent to take something, find the track and then sit and eat. I am now thinking of devious ways I can conceal money/cards! Thanks for the warning.

There was a large board listing departing and arriving trains and their tracks. Our problem was that we did not see our train listed, and we were reading it all in Spanish, which made some of it a bit ambiguous for us. However, our real problem was that we were early to the train station and our train was not yet up on the board. If we had just sat tight and not worried about it, our train would have appeared on that board eventually, and all would have been well. I think we were over-anxious, having just arrived in a foreign country and feeling sleep deprived from traveling half way around the world to get to Spain. Again, I think being alert yet calm can make it all work a lot smoother. Good luck with your camino! You'll be fine!

 

[grayland]

Ah maybe you can help as I haven't seen your previous posts - if I take my rucksack as hand luggage on the plane can I store my poles in the pack or does the pack need to go in the hold?
Thanks Val

We take our poles in our packs as carry-on each year. We have never been turned back or questioned.
Having said that...we always put them in a tube sealed and labeled as if we were going to check them in. Just in case they won't allow in and I have to check them.

I am not sure why people keep saying they are not allowed unless they have been turned down themselves.

 

[sriyantra]

There was a large board listing departing and arriving trains and their tracks. Our problem was that we did not see our train listed, and we were reading it all in Spanish, which made some of it a bit ambiguous for us. However, our real problem was that we were early to the train station and our train was not yet up on the board. If we had just sat tight and not worried about it, our train would have appeared on that board eventually, and all would have been well. I think we were over-anxious, having just arrived in a foreign country and feeling sleep deprived from traveling half way around the world to get to Spain. Again, I think being alert yet calm can make it all work a lot smoother. Good luck with your camino! You'll be fine!

Thank you for your response. We arrive in Madrid mid afternoon and will have 2 nights there before we catch the train. I thought we would do the on/off bus around Madrid for a day.

I notice you are in Hawaii - I hear there is a tropical storm over the Big Island. We know what tropical storms are like so we hope you will be OK. For my 60th birthday I did a Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour over Kauai. Loved it - have a huge poster on my wall of hovering in Mount Wai'ale'ale.

 

[sriyantra]

There was a large board listing departing and arriving trains and their tracks. Our problem was that we did not see our train listed, and we were reading it all in Spanish, which made some of it a bit ambiguous for us. However, our real problem was that we were early to the train station and our train was not yet up on the board. If we had just sat tight and not worried about it, our train would have appeared on that board eventually, and all would have been well. I think we were over-anxious, having just arrived in a foreign country and feeling sleep deprived from traveling half way around the world to get to Spain. Again, I think being alert yet calm can make it all work a lot smoother. Good luck with your camino! You'll be fine!

Me again! I just looked at our train tickets and they say Coche 1, Plaza 14C - so I am guessing that the Plaza 14C might be the track/platform number? At least I will have a piece of paper to wave under an official's nose if we need help!

 

[tploomis]

Thank you for your response. We arrive in Madrid mid afternoon and will have 2 nights there before we catch the train. I thought we would do the on/off bus around Madrid for a day.

I notice you are in Hawaii - I hear there is a tropical storm over the Big Island. We know what tropical storms are like so we hope you will be OK. For my 60th birthday I did a Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour over Kauai. Loved it - have a huge poster on my wall of hovering in Mount Wai'ale'ale.

I think taking time in Madrid, which is a wonderful city, is a great idea. It gives you time to adjust to time changes (you'r coming a long way, too, from Australia) and be ready to function in a foreign country.

Thanks for your concern related to the hurricanes in Hawaii. We live on Oahu and the first hurricane missed us and was reduced to a tropical storm, so it did little damage in our area, although the Big Island had heavier winds and rain. The second hurricane is projected to pass to the north, so it is unlikely to do much damage. We were worried for a while that the weather would interfere with our scheduled plane flight for our next adventure, walking across England through the Lakes District. It looks like we'll get off as scheduled the day after tomorrow.

 

[sriyantra]

Plaza 14C is your seat number in compartment 1.

Ondo Ibili !

Thank you for that.

 

[sriyantra]

I think taking time in Madrid, which is a wonderful city, is a great idea. It gives you time to adjust to time changes (you'r coming a long way, too, from Australia) and be ready to function in a foreign country.

Thanks for your concern related to the hurricanes in Hawaii. We live on Oahu and the first hurricane missed us and was reduced to a tropical storm, so it did little damage in our area, although the Big Island had heavier winds and rain. The second hurricane is projected to pass to the north, so it is unlikely to do much damage. We were worried for a while that the weather would interfere with our scheduled plane flight for our next adventure, walking across England through the Lakes District. It looks like we'll get off as scheduled the day after tomorrow.

Now I would be happy to hear all about your next adventure as we have pencilled that in too! Send me a PM and tell me where, when, how, what etc. You can tell from our avatar that my hubby loves Aloha shirts, buys them in Hawaii and wears them all the time! Mahalo

 

[mitch237uk]

@ tploomis.
Have a good coast to coast the bad weather passes through tomorrow Sunday, but I am still doing my training walk up Ennerdale valley to Black sail youth hostel. Buen camino