There is a whole lot of ground that we are going to be covering in this epic guide. On La Rambla, Younes left 14 dead and 140 injured - victims from 35 different countries. But only if you follow the rules and wear a helmet. What surprised us was the scale of what they were planning. As seasoned travelers we are offended by the potential petty crime in Barcelona and may cancel that part of our trip. Ask for confirmation that your card has not been used since the time that you discovered that it was stolen. Here, you will find safety knowledge and advice for travelling Barcelona. Ask for the name of the person that you have spoken to or a code for the call and make a note of it. Or bored. The terrorist hadnt organized an attack on La Rambla. Is Barcelona Safe? 2023 Expert Tips (Read Before Travel) - Urban Abroad (What do you expect from a country that spends around10% of its GDP on its public healthcare?). If you are robbed during your stay in Barcelona, the first thing to remember is that it is not your fault. Pickpocketing and petty theft is the biggest safety issue. Barcelona police are treating the crash as a terrorist attack. Barcelona discount card - Buy your transport tickets before you arrive. Lots of people responded to last weeks story with advice for holidaymakers, especially those going to Barcelona. Yet as soon as it gets down to the nitty-gritty, one question comes to the mind 'Is Barcelona safe to live in?'. Between the pandemic, ever-worsening cultural division, and a click-hungry media, it can be hard to maintain what is truth and what is sensationalism. Ive witnessed a number of muggings, a friend who I was travelling with had a similar experience to the writer., Thewookieisdown was among regular visitors who said that theft was rampant. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Each police force blames the other. If you go to the main police stations (see contact details below under Getting a Police Report) they will provide you with the necessary telephone number to call, plus a telephone to make the call free of charge to your credit card agency. People started to scream and run for safety. Barcelona shopping - La Rambla Barcelona Its just that easy. Here are the most important ones: Now, where do you get a bike from? Espagne : fusillade Barcelone sur La Rambla - RTL.fr They were all brothers, friends and cousins so they communicated in absolute confidence. Is public transportation in Barcelona safe? In the southern part of the old town (Gothic) is an area to avoid: Raval. Miracles dont exist. If the value is 0, it means it is perceived as very low, and if the value is 100, it means it is perceived as very high. The Mossos were given orders to work on the ground in Catalonia; the National Police was told to work with the Moroccan authorities and the Civil Guard with the French. Never stop if anyone asks for directions, or if anyone offers to remove bird excrement from you. There have been moves to change the law but the legal system is so bogged down with serious cases it has yet to proceed, and there is little appetite for further burdening the system by making bag-snatching and pickpocketing crimes. Whatever it is, dont worry we are here to help you out. While most of the schools teach both their regional language and Spanish, many older people especially in smaller towns and remote areas may not speak Spanish in Catalonia, Basque Country, Galicia, or the Pyrenees. Ripoll is a small town with no ghettos. They have also made it easier to make a claim necessary for insurance purposes. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Like many Western European cities, Barcelona is safe for solo female travellers. And it's not all that surprising: pickpockets are only punished with a fine if the stolen goods are less than 400. Now, the zone has a number of meter-high bollards. It took me head on: thats why I wasnt killed. In his free time, he played sport and smoked pipes with his friends in the Plaza de la Sardana. He drove over a woman who was next to me, destroying her. On public transport, in shops, restaurants. However, youll always be a bit safer in a group than by yourself. More than annoying, its something that can totally put a spanner in the works of your trip. And in their case, it was the Imam Abdelbaki Es Satty who lured them. Make Barcelona safer - tell the Major about your experience. Review tags are currently only available for English language reviews. To avoid showing up the holes in the much-lauded migrant-integration system in Catalonia. That being said, you can get by pretty much anywhere if you know Spanish, and you wont have any trouble getting around Barcelona, Madrid, or other touristic areas only knowing English. Theres a lot of decent stuff to try here from pastries and other sweet treats to huge plates of steaming paellapacked with seafood all washed down with a refreshing beer, somecavaor whatever other local beverage is on offer. But its pretty damn special too. Tourist personal safety advice Make Barcelona safer - tell the Major about your experience. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. If you need a little more room for your passport and other travel valuables, have a look at afull-size money beltthat tucks under your clothes instead. And the Mossos killed six., One of the first decisions taken by Portals was to apply Operation Jaula to stop the terrorist on La Rambla from getting away something that failed. A feeling. This is where the explosives were prepared that went off on the eve of the attacks, killing Es Satty. It is not due to something that you did or did not do. La Rambla, el paseo ms emblemtico de Barcelona According to the Mossos, no one had helped him during the four days he had spent wandering the countryside. We reconstructed the attack in our lab and we worked out what kind of action it was and what kind of terrorists were involved. But thats part of the problem: everyone DOES want to visit and seemingly all at the same time. They knew that they would end up facing the Mossos. Las Ramblas in Barcelona: Essential Guide & Advice It is worse at night than during the day. I saw a white van enter by Canaletas. We do our best to advise but this info may already be out of date. I keep a photo of my passport and driving licence on my phone, and as email attachments. BUT the hassle is actually not too badin Barcelona. Again, thank you! He was not known to be a devout Muslim. You will find many people on the streets of Barcelona at any time, so you don't have to be afraid at night. Vale Castellano (Spain Spanish) way of saying okay. We thought that they now felt as though they belonged here, what with their Catalan, designer labels and jobs. Please reach out to content@housinganywhere.com if you have any suggestions or inquiries about the content on this page. A self-admitted travel-yoga-junkie,Mathilde Aude Magnier is French-born but raised in Brussel. La Rambla, El Raval, La Boqueria 2023: Barcelona: travelgasm.com Especially in crowded places or underground trains. La Rambla, Barcelona - Wikiwand They are the children and grandchildren of North Africans, and are both Muslim and Spanish, like the jihadists from Ripoll. Obviously, theres more risk of travelling as a single woman; its a sad circumstance but true nonetheless. All the things that make Uberso goodeverywhere else apply here. There are many, many sides of Barcelona that deserve to be seen. The police didnt know anything was going on. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Why should I spend my money is a place that . We never saw any women or children, they agree. The fact that La Rambla didnt have bollards was a grave security error. All you have to do is keep a stash of cash in your money belt and thats it. Maybe youre worried as a solo female traveller heading to Barcelona, or maybe youre just wondering if you should be taking your family to the Catalan capital right now. Barcelona pickpocket - real stories the thieves, who mostly operate in groups. [1] And once you find out what bad areas of Barcelona to avoid, the city will easily make you feel at home. La Rambla (Catalan pronunciation: [ ramb]) is a street in central Barcelona, popular with tourists and locals alike. He walked calmly to the nearby Boquera market and hid among the stalls. World Nomads mission is to support and encourage travellers to explore their boundaries. El Raval Barrio Guide - Barcelona But there ARE a few problems with Barcelona. Spanish people are known for theirlong lives. We understand if you might be concerned. In a few months, Younes went from being a local soccer hero to a mass murderer with the blood of 15 people on his hands. more, PRIVATE TOUR: Highlights & Hidden Gems With Locals (B-Corp certified), This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. La Boqueria market Shopping Markets and fairs El Raval Encircled by the neoclassical Plaa Sant Josep, the. And a bit, Weve already mentioned that Barcelona has some. I fell over these men and when Id righted myself I saw theyd all jumped off. Here are some quick answers to common questions about safety in Barcelona. That produced a huge identity vacuum one that someone could fill by offering them something to fight for. Add nine beachesinto the mix, as well as a load of OTHER things to see and do, and Barcelona is apretty cool city to visit. El Raval ( Catalan pronunciation: [l ral]) is a neighborhood in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, the capital city of Catalonia. The seafront boardwalk at Cambrils where the rest of the cell attacked. . And travelling alone on empty carriages at night isnot recommended, nor is being at abandoned metro stations outside the city centre. The couple does, however, claim that they always suspected their neighbors were up to no good. Instead, he ran off. I think I have been to Barcelona six times, dating back to 1990, and every single time I have seen people attempting this sort of thing on public transport: the distracting kerfuffle. Friends come to visit, you tell them the dos and donts, and still they get robbed the young, the elderly, in the street, on the metro, queuing to visit some sight. Most of the time, they didnt feel as though they were from either Spain or Morocco. The investigation is not going to do a U-turn. The Mossos did not give much importance to the explosion either, which they also assumed was drug related. SPAIN was rocked after a terrorist attack was launched in Barcelona during the height of summer. Read about how e-Sims work or click below to see one of the top eSIM providers on the market andditch the plastic. Est jalonado de quioscos de prensa, flores y otros por decidir que . Above, the homes of the various jihadists in Ripoll. He didnt even know how to pray in Arabic, says Al Yassine, president of the Annour mosque. The van was coming straight for me. Just remember to be respectful of the locals and to treat Barcelona like you would treat your own home city. Before you could only do this by spending hours at a police station but it is now possible to do it online. Because we had ended up near the harbor and the Columbus Monument it only made sense to pass through on our way up to Placa Catalunya and ultimately our hotel.There are A LOT of people here !!!!!! Las Ramblas is one of Barcelona's top tourist destinations, with a wide pedestrian promenade flanked by roadways on either side of its Raval and Gothic quarters. It does not store any personal data. Seafood plays a BIG PART in the Barcelona food scene. Don't forget: even if La Mina gets a bit doggy at night, Barcelona remains a safe city. I was also guilty of the same stupid and one-off forgetfulness about splitting the money. He saw everything. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, La Ramblas is a street in central Barcelona, popular with tourists and locals alike (file photo), This graphic shows the timeline of yesterday's horrific events, A white van suspected of ploughing into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, Barcelona. 9 December, 2018. He has been replaced by Mohamed el Oncre, 61, a construction worker who earns 200 for clerical duties. Some thieving scams include them looking like a tourist by holding a camera and map. It was also the lab where 200 kilograms of TATP was produced a white powder that dusted the floor of the house. A new country, a new contract, a new piece of plastic booooring. Militants and madmen; people who are radicalized online and off; some who have come back from Syria and others who have never left their hometown. Aside from the occasional thief, Barcelona is really fun, friendly and easy to visit, regardless if youre alone or with a group. You can even pay with a card. But if it doesnt work, tragedy can ensue. The cafs were interesting but the waiters pressured us too much and when we did decide to eat we found the quality was not fitting to the price. Once they are on track, it is impossible to stop them. He also organized a communication plan to relay news and information in real time via Twitter. Previously, in the face of Islamic terrorism, we could say it had nothing to do with us, that they were not from here, says political scientist Moussa Bourekba, the head of a study on the fallout from the attacks by think tank Cidob. Its a plague. You should call your particular airline in order to find out what they will allow you to do. There are tons of cafes and restaurants to grab a bite if you choose. If you accept the gift, the scammer will make a scene and demand payment, often threatening to call the police. When it comes to protecting your money, that means investing in a money belt. Las Ramblas in Barcelona. BCN Essentials Pass: unlimited transport with city audio guide. Tourist numbers in the city mean there are a lot of these. Use money belts for keys, cards and cash. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Wearing a money belt really is a simple way to STOP potential pickpockets in their tracks. And, you guessed it, petty theft makes up the majority of that. Barcelona is Dali country a city where gothic meets abstract and modern architecture, where everybody stays up late to eat and drink, and where there is plenty to do and see. And for transparencys sake, please know that some of the links in our content are affiliate links. If you are caught, you will be fined, probably around 50, but however. Barcelona is as safe as it gets for tourists in a popular European city. 1) Ramble the Rambla La Rambla: Barcelona's Famous Walking Street; La Boqueria and El Raval 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2023 Travel Update: As of 2023, Spain essentially is open for tourism by both vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers without Covid-specific documentation or testing. I have lived in Barcelona for over one year and still have not figured out how to avoid being pickpocketed or robbed. I know that itself carries some risks, but for me, the pros outweigh the cons, said one holidaymaker to Turkey. The life expectancy of Spanish women is particularly high; they outlive every other nationexcept Japan. Font de Canaletes. And it meant a profound change in my life that I am still dealing with and that is still to come to an end.. At first Los Ramblas was fine, lot of people, bright lights, that IS the illusion of safety. Best things to do on La Rambla in Barcelona Photo: Olivia Rutherford / Time Out 1. However, I'm starting to pick up on a lot of negative feedback recently concerning the crime rate in Barcelona. If enough people stoped going there the situation would approve quickly. We were here in early May and can't imagine what it would be during high summer season. Right? Enjoyed pleasant refreshments at the relaxing Cafe de L'Opera. La Rambla was laid out in 1766, following the contours of the medieval city walls that had bounded this part of Barcelona since the 13th century. . A tree-lined pedestrian street, it stretches for 1.2 kilometres ( 34 mile) connecting the Plaa de Catalunya in its center with the Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell.