alanw:
It's not only how you look, dress.
I guess you go never, seldom to the "touristy" places in Barcelona, right?
Thieves like places with lots of "crowded" tourists.
For example in Lisbon: I saw the same thieves (mostly teams of two or three) at the tiny tram which goes up the hill to the castle, and also at the tram to Belem....and they always block their victims.. :mad:
Actually the cable car in San Francisco would be the best place to "work" for them :D

Thanks for sharing your experience, glad you're ok and it's certainly made one slightly less seasoned traveller (me) think twice.

I'm with alan on this one.
I've been to MAD, LIS, OPO, PRG, VCE, Paris etc etc....Never ever even come close to being mugged/scammed (well once I did pay over the odds for a taxi in PRG but that was perfectly legitimate as the b@st@rds can charge whatever they want as long as they display the prices inside :mad: ) . As alan said, the key is keeping a low profile and "blending" into the scenery... :cool:

I'm afraid that of all the foreign travel we do from our office, the only problem in recent years was in Madrid - one of our staff violently attacked and robbed in a "tourist area" bar, seriously injured and ended up in a grim hospital. Fortunately in a few hours the client's local directors became involved and he was moved on to a decent private clinic.

As ever locals blame the problem on incomers and we were told the problem was with those who came over to Madrid from North Africa. But for some reason in the major Spanish cities (not so much the resort towns) this seems to be a problem the authorities have not got to grips with. Certainly here in London Americans are very free to "act as Americans" without a problem, none of this having to pretend to blend in stuff.

I'm really sorry to hear about your experience schreibsman and I'm glad your OK. I'm also glad that you posted your experience. A (girl) friend of mine got raped in San Francisco once, at least she thinks she did, but that's the worst part of having your drink spiked - the uncertainty, and having enough control of your actions to make you think you are in control. It must have been awful for you to piece together everything that happened.

Nevertheless, I have lived in Spain for some years - Alicante, Barcelona and Madrid, and although I have never been a victim of crime myself, I've certainly witnessed plenty of them.
As for 'blending in' - well, that's pretty much impossible. If your face gets a little red in the sun, you're already going to be a target. Toursits are easy to spot because almost every tourist in Barcelona looks so damn happy.

So what is it about Spain? The main problems are that there isn't a decent Social Security system to fall back on and the popularity of recreational drugs in the Spanish culture. There are a lot of desperate people there with no resources or income. Many are from Northern Africa, more and more are from Eastern Europe, but there are also quite a few Spaniards with serious drug problems.
Tips: don't carry around a camera bag or a heavy handbag - look at what young spaniards carry with them. They'll carry soft purses across their shoulders with keys, tissues, cigarrettes and just a little money. I know girls in Spain who attach pockets to their knickers or bras and carry any more money than they need in there - they'll retrieve it from the privacy of a toilet later.
'Mugging money' is a good idea, just as in New York, if anybody whips out a knife make it look as if you are giving them everything. Your attacker has probably taken some drugs, so there's no point in reasoning with them.
If you are in a car or hire car (which will identify you as a tourist), keep it locked when you are in the city - its more and more common to see people opening it when you are at a traffic light and taking anything on your lap. Also be aware that your car windows will get smashed if you leave ANYTHING at all in there. I remember Spanish people in discos dancing around a pile of their own car CD players, nobody would even leave those in their cars.
But Spain is the kind of place where you can just get chatting to a stranger and have a lovely evening with them. I think the key is what MisterrNice said - the conartists want your money. When they realise you don't have any, they'll move on. If your friendly stranger is still talking to you when they see you struggling to add enough cents together to buy yourself a beer, then the chances are they really are a friendly stranger. Knowing that, you can pull out your wallet for the next round.
Glad you're still enjoying España schreibsman, I really am glad you're OK!

I use a service recommended to me by my credit card company. It is run by a separate company, and costs around 50USD or something like that per year. They let you register the numbers of all your credit card numbers with them, and also other documents such as your passport. I then only have to call their number to report the loss of my credit cards, all at once or only those I have lost. I received small stickers with their phonenumber on which I have placed in strategic locations such as the back of my watch and the back of my belt buckle.

I'm sure a similar service is available in other countries as well, and I think the annual fee is worth it since it is a quick way to cancel all your cards at once without forgetting any of them. I think there is also some kind of insurance included in the deal, so that you will not have to pay for any charges after a theft, but I think many credit card companies offer that as well.

That's been my plan for many years now (although I've never been mugged). Should some desperate guy threaten me with a weapon, I'll always have at least $100 to donate. I sure don't want to have to say, "sorry, I've only got five bucks."