Madrid Pickpockets

[Joseph Chan]

This is posted as see there are pilgrims going to Madrid.

Our Camino was disrupted by having my wallet stolen. The modus operandi was, after seeing me carrying the backpack, was to drop a handful of coins on the ground near my feet. The pickpocket then grabbed my trouser legs pretending to look for coin at the same time saying "your money!!".

I looked down instinctively to stop him fiddling with my trouser leg and bent down, this exposed the rear pocket which although buttoned was pickpocketed. My ATM card and cash in it was lost. With a backpack we could not chase the person. This however did not prevent me from continuing the Camino as I had another ATM card, passport and other valuable slung around my neck.

Moral: Keep your valuables safe as the Police were not at all helpful in Madrid, perhap due to seeing this happen so often.

 

[ivar]

This exact same thing happened to a friend of mine in Plaza del Sol in Madrid. I was standing next to him, and by the time we realized that we were being robbed, it was too late. These guys are good.

The police arrived 10 minutes later, and of course would/could no nothing.

Lesson: No wallet in your back pocket! (That is what they look for)

 

[Joseph Chan]

Yes Ivar, the pickpocketing was done at Plaza Sol, we then had to walk for a very long distance to get to the Police Station from the Plaza Sol. A Spanish Police officer came out of a room, handed us a form to fill and went back to to the locked room. He then came back to take the form, went back to the room, and returned with a photocopy of the form for us to claim insurance if we had any. There was nothing else the Police could do but it took a few hours off our otherwise pleasant visit to Madrid.

This serves as a warning to travellers to most big cities, keep your valuables safe. Also do not keep all in one package.

Ivar, your website is a godsend and we look forward to staying in your accommodation on our next trip to Spain.

Grandpa Joe from New Zealand

 

[robtward99]

safekeeping of valuables

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Thanks for sharing the lesson that wallets are vulnerable when kept in back pockets. This doesn't mean, however, that front pockets or money belts worn outside the pants are necessarily safer. A favourite trick of pickpockets all over Europe is to approach you with a newspaper or a rag in their open hands, asking you to place some money on it, but actually using it as a cover while their hand slips into your pocket. I had this pulled on me in Dublin and I've seen it in action in Madrid and Milan. The best place for your valuables, at least till you get out of Madrid or Barcelona and onto the Camino, is an inside pocket or money belt.

 

[Joseph Chan]

Thanks robtward99 for your consoling words, it is heartening to know there are still good people out there. Slightly off topic, my wife lost her wallet which she had in her deep front pocket, the system was to shove a baby in her face from the front, appealing for "money money", her accomplice then pushed her from the back and her wallet was plucked from her deep front pocket.

This was done at the Tivoli Fountain which had a lot of Police. The lesson was that even the front pocket is not safe and a money belt which had our passport and other currency was still the place to carry valuable. The Italian Police station was more friendly but there was little they could do.

On a happier note we rang the freephone card number and were connected to a USA center, they then that afternoon rang their Germany office and by 9am the next morning my wife had a replacement card delivered to the doorstep. Lesson No 2, keep the lost card freefone number at hand.

 

[C clearly]

My favourite piece of travel advice is to use diaper pins liberally. (You know, the safety pins that require an extra manoeuver to open.) Pin your pockets closed, pin through your money belt and your pants, pin your backpack zippers shut, pin everything.

They are very handy and are not hard to remove when you need to get into your pocket! At the start of a trip I always have the pins neatly tucked away out of sight. By the end of a trip I have them scattered all over my clothes. Too bad they tend to come in baby colours!

- Clare

 

[Joseph Chan]

Clare,
We need more people like you as this advise, use diaper pin or other safety pin to pin the pocket, should be widely publicised. Diaper pins have been recommended to pin wet laundry at the back of the backpacks, a few more pins could be used to deter pickpockets.

Good on you, many thanks, we will remember this.

 

[Javier Martin]

Re:

Hi,

As I live in Madrid, I have to say: Madrid is a quite safe city, but not for foreign people in turistic places. So, all of you arrive in Madrid, wants to visit the Prado Museum, la Plaza Mayor, la Puerta del Sol, etc. So, be always, ¡¡always!! very carefull, I do the same in turistic places in Paris or London, everywhere.

Thiefs know that if they steal 200 euros it's not a crime, if police catch them they return to the street in a couple of days. So, when I visit the Puerta del Sol I'm always very careful, then there's no problem. These are the only places where you have to "change your pocket money to a safer place".

Dangerous places are: Turistic places with a lot of people. In Madrid and everywhere (not in the Camino)

Buen Camino and good luck!

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.