I did feel a bit uneasy the 1st time I wander'd there , I had a bottle of Baron de Chirel the most expensive bottle of vino I had ever bought . Nothing happend though and the vino was excellent!!

i have never been stopped by police, and on my business i go to places a lot more dangerous than Peru ::) Its common sense and be alert.
Yes usually this safe thing is bring out from Americans, do not know the psychological impact in that. Like the question is that area is safe? happenned a zillion times and the source of the question is always the same.

Happy travels everyone ::)
ps and I was at the May 1 celebration in Paris, lots of police with guns and riot police behind the scenes in trucks, nothing happenned but it could be scary if from a country not used to these celebrations. It was great walks with two visiting friends from Florida USA!

Times Square Car Bomb

On May 1, at 4:00 pm, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in New York City, I walked through Times Square. The streets were busy with many people, vendors, street performers, scam artist, cars and a number of street criminals. The tour buses were filled with people probably from all-over the world and USA.

Some tourists and New Yorkers were seated in the plazas enjoying their McDonalds or Starbucks, typical American food and beverages (hehehe). I purchased an a Starbucks, went to Bryant Park on 42nd Street to relax, and left at 5:30 pm to meet my wife for dinner.

The car bomb incident started later that evening and the police had closed Times Square. Since my first career was with the police in the city, I continued to monitor the sitution on television and radio. I woke-up several times during the night to hear the progress of the incident. The news media reported at 8:00 am that Times Square was opened again. On Sunday morning I decided to return to Times Square sometimes referred to as the Crossroads of the World. I assumed that Times Square would be quite since the people would probably be frighted because of the car bomb incident. After taking the train to Times Square I noticed the streets were filled with tourists, New Yorkers, and tour buses. It reminded me after 9/11. The people were not going to let the terrorists scare them away from Times Square. Many of the tourists and New Yorkers were taking pictures of police officers, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances. Some young ladies were taking pictures with five US Marines in their dress uniforms who were touring New York City. The terrorist had not yet been arrested by the FBI but the people were not going to let that deter them from enjoying themselves the morning after a potentially deadly terrorist attack on New York City.

Jim Costello, thanks for the New York City account - but seems off-topic to "Madrid: Safety Helpful Hints" unless you're trying to say that these things can happen anywhere.

Saludos, MadridMan

yeah its Times Square safe?to visit ?

just been sarcastic sorry. But common sense anywhere will always prevails.

The purpose of this information is to help tourists from having their wallet or passport taken while in Madrid or any other city such as New York. My wife and I were in Madrid for 3 weeks in May & June and we always felt safe.

This incident tells how quickly you can become a crime victim. It was raining on my last Saturday afternoon in Madrid. I was walking on the Gran Via near Calle de Alcala with my umbrella up. Along with about 20 persons I was waiting for the traffic signal to change and cross the Gran Via. I was at the rear of the group when my umbrella was hit by someone behind me. I assume it was an accident and moved forward. Then it happened again. I looked and saw a young man very close to my face. I then quickly turned around and saw 2 young women very close behind me. When I looked at them, the man and women turned around and walked quickly back-up the Gran Via. Their method of operation was for the man to distract me while the women took my property without my knowledge.

Why did I become their target?
First, I walked out of a hotel on the Gran Via one block from the incident. Was I followed?
Second, I had my "man-bag" (containing nothing of value except for a cheap camera) over my right shoulder and towards the rear of my hip with the zipper half opened. I forgot to close the zipper when I took out my umbrella. My rear left back pocket was not secured but had some papers inside that the thieves may have believed was my wallet. However, my wallet was in my right front pants pocket with a baseball type hat also inside the same pocket to prevent the wallet from falling out or being taken by a thief.

After almost 3 weeks in Madrid, I was lax for not closing my man-bag zipper and having it in front of me rather than behind me.

Enjoy Madrid but be alert for thieves. They are in all cities throughout the world.