| We now provide a service – free of charge – to visitors and locals alike, whereby we send your account of your robbery experience to the Mayor of Barcelona so that he is informed about it and can take appropriate action.
Please fill out this form. Often a response is received from the Mayor, and it will be sent to you directly (by email or surface mail). |
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Great idea. The Catalan politicians seem unaware of the damage that thieves are doing to Barcelona’s reputation internationally. The company I work for recently had a conference in Lisbon. I was asked if Barcelona would be suitable for the conference (40 people from Norway, the UK, US, Canada, Brazil, Russia, the Middle East and Asia) and I said that probably almost half the attendees would be robbed. Lisbon was the preferred option and it was much safer than Barcelona.
Don, nice anecdote, I’m going to write a piece on it. Any additional colour you can add to the story, please do, so I can flesh-out the piece. Perhaps some of the 40 concurred with your decision because of personal experience? Any idea how much your company spent on the conference in Lisbon? (How many days were they there for, what star hotel did delegates stay in, etc?) Just trying to illustrate to readers what Barcelona lost and what Lisbon gained. Thanks. [Might be best to e-mail me at the address at the top of http://www.robbedinbarcelona.com.
Sure thing. I work for an international company. We have a head office in Oslo, as well as offices in London, Houston and Singapore. We also have staff in Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, India, China, Russia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, and Nigeria. About 40 staff met for the conference. We had discussed possible locations in the Oslo office, and Barcelona and Lisbon were seen as ideal because of location and climate. The boss asked for input and I mentioned that I had been robbed in Barcelona (wallet stolen on the metro, as well as several attempts including numerous Ronaldinhos) and several friends had also been robbed in Barcelona despite being fairly streetwise and knowing the city (one friend was followed into the entry foyer of his hotel building and had his jacket taken from him by force, with a mobile phone and wallet inside). Another colleague mentioned that he had visited Barcelona with friends and members of their party had been robbed on three separate occasions. The boss basically said “Lisbon it is”.
I wasn’t shown all the figures involved but there were about 40 of us staying three nights in a four-star hotel. Many of us arrived at different times from different destinations so more than 20 taxis were used from the airport (and back). We used the hotel conference rooms and catering as well as several other restaurants and bars in the city in the evenings. Almost all the staff used free time to go shopping/sightseeing/eating/drinking. We all took a guided tour of the city. I would estimate the company spent about 1000 euros per head, plus there was personal spending, so I’d say a total of about 50,000. Most of the staff took connecting flights to Lisbon from European hubs with TAP Portugal, so that’s another consideration.
No-one was robbed.
Thank you!
Excellent idea. I have just filled in the form and look forward to receiving the mayor’s personal apologies in due course. Breath duly held.
Six submissions received in the last 80 minutes. More than we were expecting. We’ll link to this page from the top of the blog somewhere, somewhere prominent.
Thanks for the form, Contacted the Mayor’s office back in July after I got back from my trip. Also had wallet stolen. Received what was a standard form letter indicating Barcelona’s crime rate is similar to other European cities of it’s size. Laughable, also commented they are working on petty crime, absolute insult to equate my personal wealth as petty. Good luck and keep up the awareness. Future Travelers BEWARE IT IS OUT OF CONTROL.
IT IS INDEED OUT OF CONTROL. We were robbed twice in one week. Once mobile phone was grabbed by a runner, and the other my wife’s canvas bag (with her inhaler but little else) was grabbed by a pair of teens on a scooter on the pavement. She was knocked to the ground. Does anybody in Barcelona care? No. But then they did not care when Gaudi was knocked down by a tram in 1926 either! Don’t visit this city; I won’t again.
[...] too late. That’s because Robbed In Barcelona has made it possible for victims of theft to notify the city’s mayor by filling out an online form. The site administrator will then forward the complaint at no charge, [...]
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