I live in Paris where in the metro you should be careful as a tourist (I even got myself hit by pickpockets once), still the chance is minimal. It happens, but it is minimal.

After hearing so many travelers stories, I believe that in those 2 spanish cities, your chance of being targeted is pretty high.

Dave traveled in so many countries and it’s in Europe he got problems, where you should expect it the least. He said he wanted to go to Colombia later, he’ll probably even be safer there. Call it ironic!

Every time I enter a new city and ride the metro I lock everything up in my back pack with a lock and wear my money belt.

I only carry small cash in my pocket that I need for transportation for that day.

My friend was walking in Barcelona with his wife, he had his wallet in his front pocket on the side of his wife and they were walking with their arms together and someone brushed aside them and got his wallet.

So the only remedy is a money belt under the clothes, I wear mine over my shoulder under my arm when I need to, In the Middle East it has not been an issue. But in some well known hot spots, I just don’t understand it.

Nonetheless that was not a phone call his parents wanted to get. It all worked on in the end. I hope this experience hasn’t put a bad taste in your mouth for Barcelona or Spain. It really is a wonderful country.

When I was in Madrid, a friend of mine had borrowed some money to her parents so she could come with me. So we tried not to spend too much, and the last day she was happy that she had still half the money left.
Then we took the metro to the train station in order to leave.
And at the train station she discovered that in the metro, some pickpocket had managed to steal all of her money.
I can tell you she was pretty hurt by the situation.

The worst with pickpockets is that they will stole your stuff and get maybe $10 in cash and they don’t care that you’ll have to pay $50 to block and replace your credit card they can’t even use.

If it makes you feel any better. I once had my entire backpack stolen at the border of Bolivia and Peru, including all 300+ pictures I took up to that point (with no backup), my journal, and about $2k worth of camping/hiking equipment and electronics. All I had left was my moneybelt but I was in a town with no ATMs.

After a few days I got over it, and eventually had an enjoyable rest of the trip. I hope you do get back your ability to withdraw cash and continue your trip. Don’t let this ruin it!