There are so many warnings and horror stories out there about street crime in Barcelona that it can be a bit distracting and cause needless worry. I do not profess to be an expert on Spain (I have only been there twice) but I have traveled abroad and domestically alot. My experience in Barcelona convinced me that these warnings may be a trifle overblown. Reasonable levels of caution and common sense seem to work. It is really not too hard to spot the "thief teams" on Las Ramblas. They sort of have a uniform (baggy sweat suits) If you appear alert and aware, it seems to help. If you live in a good sized American city, you live with far more risk each day, than you will encounter in Barcelona. US city crime stats are appalling compared to any Spanish city! Handguns are not common in Spain and some of the "cracked out" thieves on Las Ramblas would fall over if a strong wind blew on them! Anyway, my point is that you can go to Barcelona and have a great time and not stress about crooks. Simple precautions seem to work i.e. moneybelt, holding on to your luggage etc. Do watch out for the Gitana in front of the Sagrada Familia church, I must admit that she is pretty slick and her breath is like pepper spray. There is no need to stress about the street crime. Just be cautious and enjoy!

In response to your query whether the warnings about crime in Barcelona is overblown, my answer would be "yes and no".

I have been to Barcelona numerous times and it's probably one of my favorite cities in Europe. In all my visits, I have never been robbed or even felt close to being robbed. However, there was this one incident during my second visit. I was on this hop-on hop-off tour bus and I met this wonderful Polish couple. They were staying in Rosas, a seaside town north of Barcelona and the location of the famous restaurant, El Bulli. Anyway, they had a car rental and they would drive to Barcelona for sightseeing and that's when I met them. We exchanged business cards and email and I thought that was the end of it. A week after I got back home, he emailed me saying he and his wife were robbed and it was such a daring robbery. They were driving in their car with the windows rolled down and they were stopped in an intersection due to traffic. Suddenly, these men, who he believed were Moroccans, just reached inside the car, grabbed his wife's purse and took off running.

So to me, yes, the warnings are overblown. To that poor Polish couple, NO, the warnings are NOT overblown.

In short, you do need to be aware of your surrounding and take the necessary precautions but paranoia is not necessary. One thing I have witnessed personally is a lot of petty theft in convenience stores around La Rambla. I've seen people putting candy bars and other small items in their pockets and inside their coats and just walking away without paying.

Hello Cornelio:

Thanks for the reply! I was making sort of a declaration, rather than an inquiry regarding safety in Barcelona and I certainly do feel sorry for the Polish folks. However, I still think that all the "hype" about street crime is overstated. The "warnings" are everywhere and cause far too much traveler worry. Even at the hotel desk where I stayed, I heard a US couple asking nervous questions to the clerk about safety on the street. They were from Atlanta and would routinely face far more perilous conditions in their own city. I read warnings on other message boards (not this one) urging people not to visit Barcelona because it was so crime infested. There were tales of lighter fluid squirting Moroccans who set their victims aflame and other dire circumstances. I have admitted that I am not an expert, but I was in Barcelona long enough that I should have spotted these things, if they were truly rampant.

It is a uniquely American trait to stress over danger in European cities, when we have the most crime ridden cities in the world. Remember what happened to that series of German tourists in Miami a few years ago?

Well, I have ranted long enough. I just do not want people to do what my wife and I did, which was to worry needlessly. As you said, a little caution is all that is required. I still think that Barcelona feels very safe for a big city.

The hype about crime problems in Spain is not overblown. I deal with numerous tourists (and a few residents) everyday who have been crime victims. What everyone has to remember is that while Europe in general has much lower crime rates than the U.S., tourists are high visibility and attractive targets for professional pickpockets . This is where the money is and a tourist will be less familiar in general with his or her surroundings than someone residing in the area. The same is true in the U.S., I beliece that a Spanish or British tourist in New York or LA is much more likely to be a victim of this type of crime than a resident of one of those cities.

The basic reminder is not to leave your street smarts at home when you travel.