For Barcelona to be called the pickpocket capital of the world does little to encourage tourism to the beautiful city.The accolade has come from the travel website TripAdvisor which last week listed its top ten places where this activity might take place.The information was gathered from TripAdvisors own personel and their experiences ,combined with information provided by travellers on their website.One traveller referred to the pickpocketing as almost an accepted activity and a bit of a joke,almost a sport,a bit like soccer.
The La Rambla area which has narrow streets ,make it the perfect place for such criminals to ply their trade.This is an area which is busy by day and by night and it has attracted the criminal element ,including muggers,pickpockets ,drug sellers and prostitutes.Recently El Pais photographed prostitutes having sex with clients in full view of the public,near La Rambla.These photographs havecaused such a furore that there is yet another call for a clean up of the city..Soon there will be an ABTA conference in Barcelona and this will be high on the agenda.
Following Barcelona were Prague and Rome,with Madrid in fourth place.In Madrid they often steal from those in museums and art galleries ,working on those who are already distracted.Trip Advisor suggests that tourists carry or wear nothing of value.Beware of people who attempt to distract you,carry nothing in your back pocket.Be cautious even of children and the elderly who can be part of a gang.It would be a shame not to visit a city because of the criminals but if councils continue to do little to stop this then tourism will suffer.
