Madrid and Spain safety

On a positive note, we just spent 10 days mostly in Madrid and Seville and never saw or had anything happen that made us feel threatened or unsafe in any way . We felt as safe there as in any other cities we've visited in europe or US. (We however, were not out past midnight, don't know if that makes a difference). People everywhere--restaurants, bus stations, hotels, taxi drivers were helpful and courteous. For instance the bus station in Seville (at Prado de San Sebastion) was a beautiful building in a nice area of town--a surprise and such a contrast to the bus station areas in most big US cities which are usually in the sleaziest areas.
We just never had any bad experiences in any way. That's not to say one shouldn't be careful. We kept our money and valuables well inside our clothes and didn't take any chances. Our friends cautioned us to be careful and mentioned someone who lost their "back pocket" wallet and everything in it almost as soon as they arrived. Also they cautioned us re. people on the street that try to give you something--a flower, etc. and then ask for money. Then someone else is watching where you keep your money and they manage to steal it later. I did see a couple of those people once in Seville, but avoided them.

This is a very worthy thread!

We can all get "caught-up" and worried about personal safety - many people, I think, let this consume them and it ruins the trip and experiences.

No matter where you travel one needs to be vigilant. Even in the U.S., there are MANY places one knows to avoid.

I bring all this up because of my experiences last summer in the Basque Country. ETA terror is no secret, and the day we arrived in Malaga the car with explosives was found just prior to count-down. Very lucky...

The second leg of our vacation was in the north. I shamefully admit my initial hesitation to visit the wonderful areas of the north - due to ETA terrorism. Yes, the Basque Country has a strong "security-feel", but I neve once felt unsafe.

This just needed to be written for anyone thinking twice about visiting Spain because of potential terrorism. Rubbish, I say! Spain is probably statistically safer than the USA.

Go to Spain - be careful of your personal belonging - and enjoy such a wonderful culture! Don't let the media scare anyone into thinking twice about this nation. Not only is it safe, but the people are generally warm and friendly.

Enjoy!

The are many stories about Spain lack of safety but statistically is one of the safest cities in the world. My experience by now confirms the data, hundreds of nights out and no big problem, just pray the emigrants coming to Spain don't change this. My advice is to avoid areas with a bad reputation , trying to look as native as possible, and be careful especially with people that doesn't look Spanish.

[ 01-05-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Does anybody know if tourist visits to Spain have risen in the past few years? I would suspect a decline since Sept. 11, but if Spain is supposedly a country with a bad reputation for petty crime and indifferent law enforcement (I am only basing this on this message board and other travel websites) wouldn't a decrease in tourist numbers open the eyes of government officials to put their foot down on this perceived problem? What about installing cameras in problem areas as they do in London?

I have never been to Spain and in the past two years have been trying to get there (I am planning this May again) but I also admit that these stories make me very cautious and tentative about coming over. I am a photographer who travels solo and I, unfortunately, almost expect that I will be a target for petty crime. It's not a great attitude to have but it's a very real threat and makes me question if it is worth spending my hard earned money on such an adventure. But the people who post here also make my mouth water at the thought of visiting this country!

Just my input on an issue that is a concern to me.

Dargus from Edmonton Canada (where it's only minus 20C today!)

I just returned from spending 8 days in Madrid. We stayed at Hostal Corbero (great hostal, BTW)on Cervantes near the Prado in what I believe was the Huertas area (someone correct me if I am wrong). I have to say that I felt completely safe the whole time I was there going everywhere on foot even in the late night and wee hours of the morning. Still I was alert to my surroundings and carried my purse inside my coat so it was not visible, but those are precautions I would take anywhere. Maybe I am being naive, but that was my experience. A friend of mine who was there as well had no problems going out and about alone, even walking back to her hostal alone at night at times. Then again, she is a streetwise New Yorker, but I think like anywhere, that is what you have to be, streetwise.

[ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

By the way, tourism in Spain rises a 5-10% every year for the last decades!

We receive 50 million tourists every year, and we are almost going to pick the USA (which is the second most visited country). Spain is the third most visited country whereas France is the most one.

And for now inmigrants are not rising crime rates significantly (we still have a low number of inmigrants compared to other countries).

Iwalanic, glad to see you here again! Hope your trip was ok.

Fernando

[NOTE: For those of you curious about the statistics, check out the Instituto de Estudios Turísticos . Have a look at this PDF document ]

[ 01-22-2002: Message edited by: Antonio ]

Thanks Fernando! It was great to meet you at MM's party!

After all the horror stories I'd heard about las Ramblas in Barcelona, I decided not to ever carry a purse. I would just tuck a few euros in my pocket when i went out. But I never saw any street crime at all, and there were security guards in all the hotels, cafeterias, movie theaters, etc.

Madrid, the Puerta del Sol is still a problem, and I seriously advise you not to carry cameras around your neck (they scream, steal me!), and women, any purse you carry should be worn so that it cannot be grabbed in a TIRON (quick yank).

I still think Spain is one of the safest places to go in the world!

As has been said many times on the board, most travelers to Spain encounter no problems at all, and the best advice is to simply be alert and use the same common sense you would use in any large metro area.

Sure, there are a few bad apples, but the vast majority of the time Spain feels incredibly safe. This actually seems to me to be one of the reasons Sol is sometimes described as "dangerous"--maybe it's only in comparison to the rest of Spain, in which problems are very infrequent. That's not to downplay the incidents that do happen there, but many can be prevented by carrying your valuables in hidden places (under jackets during the winter!) and by paying attention to your surroundings--and by NOT LOOKING LOST!

With regard to Sol in Madrid we had an interesting experience the Sat nite before New Yrs--we came out of the Metro around 7 pm and it was solid people as far as we could see--even every side street as far as we could see was jammed, sidewalks everything. could hardly move for people. I'm not sure if this was typical Sat. nite or the start of New Yrs celebration. It was a little scary at first--I've never seen so many people in one place, but as we looked around it was all sorts of people out to enjoy themselves--couples with young children, old people, all ages--eating, buying pastries, snacks, buying things in the stalls in Pl. Mayor. It was quite jammed up to the Pl. Mayor. It must have been a pickpockets paradise, but we never saw anything the least bit sinster or threatening. Just a lot of happy people.

I live in the north of Spain and haven´t seen an increase in crime myself. However, recent articles in the national newspapers have been describing a tremendous increase in crime. My province, Navarra, is said to have experienced a 22% increase in crime from 2000 -2001! Madrid´s statistics were worse. I am not sure but I thought I heard something on the news the other day about the US State Department putting out a warning about the increase in crime in Spain. Whatever the case may be, prudence is certainly your best bet.

As far as any worries about ETA, forget them. I live in Bilbao and there are ETA problems all the time. As long as you aren´t a politician or some public figure who has been critical of ETA, don´t worry. Yeah, there is a car bomb once in a while, but ETA is nice enough to call the authorities and tell them exactly where the bomb is. There is no worry for ordinary tourists, just be careful talking about politics otherwise you might get called some dirty names. It is very safe here. I had an american friend fall asleep (passed out?) on the metro at night and he went back and forth a few times before he woke up and got off, no problems. And around the Spanish government buildings, they DO have cameras watching the street.

Yeah, ETA is very nice...

Fernando, I think Roe was using sarcasm.

I know, me too

I don't know....all of the people I know living in the Basque Country would never say "it's very safe here" when talking about ETA (it's clear that some people are indeed safer than others there); general "street safety" is another matter....

I REALLY HATE to have to agree with Andrés.
I know it sounds extremely xenophobic, but it's not, it is a fact. In Madrid, incidents involving the use of guns for instance, were almost unheard of until, some years ago a number of Southamericans were killed by their own mobs around the discos at Orense's St. (so we started to call it Forense St.); and ever since then, there've been more and more of those, and on 90+ % of the time either Russians, Chinese, Colombians, etc....are involved.
To me, what's sadder about this is that they give a bad name to other immigrants that come here to lead honest lives.
On a different note, I cross the Plaza Mayor almost everyday lately, and the fact that there are so many Moroccoans just standing there by themselves or hanging out in groups all day for no apparent reason, just makes me wonder....how do these guys make their living? By their looks they don't seem to be homeless, or hungry like others, so how do they manage? I'm honestly very curious about this.

I basically meant that the average tourist with the slightest bit of common sense doesn´t have to worry about ETA.

I agree with you, Roe. My parents think (i'm exaggerating here) I'd be crazy to go to Basque country with car bomb explosions happening all around me as I walk down the street, assassinations on every street corner, and pipe bombs going off in every trash recepticle. Kinda like walking through a scene of an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. And, come one, we all know this is JUST not true. Even with all that has been stated above, Spain is STILL one of the safest European countries.

But pim, I know what you mean. It would seem that SOMETHING must be supporting these people who sell bootleg/pirated copies of CDs on the street...I can't imagine they sell enough to support themselves. And they're always dressed very nicely.

Saludos, MadridMan

I've been doing some reading on this topic for my coming visit to Spain (among other countries in Europe). Some questions arising from this are:

1. Is the ETA increasingly targeting tourists in Madrid, Barcelona and other tourist centres to embarass the Government as mentioned in some sources?

2. Are robberies with violence and muggings (as contrasted with pickpocketing scams) becoming more frequent? (Which has led to the advise to carry as little of value on your person as possible to minimise loss).

I am aware of the general advise to keep alert and act confidently at all times, and that the incidents are the exception rather than the rule. Still it would be interesting to see if there is any consensus among the regulars here on the latest trends.

Hi tonyt!

1. ETA targets tourist interests from while to while as a way to scare tourists and prive Spain from the main industry: tourism. These attacks are unfrequent, and are usually commited in summer. But they are very cautious not to harm any forgein tourist, because that will damage their international image as a "groups of guys seeking to free the Basque Country". In it's whole existence ETA has killed about a thousand persons, of which there has only been one forgein victim ("an accident" they will say, as if bombing could be an accident...).

2. Crime rates have risen a bit (or at least that is what the political parties say). It is said that this is due to crecent inmigration (which may be discussable). Anyway, this rise is not specificly targeted to tourists. Violent crimes (unknown by us) are becoming a bit frequent (once per two weeks). Colombian, kosovar and russian mafias are the most violent ones, but they usually target jewelries and houses of isolated estates.

By the way, Spain is still a very safe country (at least as safe as any other first world country), and the crimes are not violent in general.

Hope this helps

Fernando

I am arriving on Madrid on May 3 for a two week solo vacation. A concern I have (and I believe raised last year when I was also planning to visit) is that I am a photographer and need to have my camera available at all times. Today I will be getting a new lens, which is fairly large in size, and intend to use it as my main tool for this trip. Any advice on how to travel, camera in hand, especially alone without fear of getting robbed? I have done this before in Paris, New Orleans, San Francisco without any problems. Perhaps somebody can convince me that I will be fine?
Thanks!
Dargus

Inside buildings there are no problems.

Have the camera at sight at every time. Be aware of what is surrounding you (search specificly for people who is directly watching at you). Try not to be alone in streets.

Special caution in Madrid's central and tourist areas, mostly in Sol. Try not to catch people atention and not to look as a tourist. Do not accept anyone's too friendly help (they are probably trying to distract you). Do not let anyone touch you no matter the friendly they look. Have your camera well attached to you by the cords.

In less touristical places there is absolutely no problem. You may only find problems in open places as Puerta del Sol.

Anyway, these are only advices of common sense, this don't mean that you will have problems, it is just "in case of". The most probable is that you don't have any problems. By the way, I have been in most touristical places of my country without having any single problem.

It is just that in Madrid there is a specific southamerican mafia which usually targets japanese tourists (who are very inocent and carry always expensive camera devices) and that operates in the town center.

Regards, good luck, and don't be afraid Enjoy!

Fernando

Dargus,
Do the same you did in New Orleans, San Franciso and Paris. If you were safe there I don't see why you won't be safe in Madrid.
Nuria