According to the Vanguardia today pickpockets are leaving the previously lucrative Killing Fields of Lines 1 and 3 to hit the tourists as they wait for Metros on Line 5 especially at stations Sagrada Familia, Diagonal and Verdageur. One of Line 5's advantages as far as robbing is concerned is that the trains are nearly always full and people have to push up against one another to get in so it's difficult to feel those probing experienced hands searching for wallets, money and credit cards.
My recent experiences on lines 3 and 1 apparently are all too common. The modus operandi varies but basically is the same. Pick a victim. Surround him. Distract him. Pick his pocket. Get away from the area. Return later and start all over again. I was picked out near Drassaanes. As I exited a large man o9n the platform blocked my exit while another behind me got my wallet. I was distracted as I asked the man to move out of the way- which he did once they had got my wallet. Luckily I realised what had happened and chased the man who had been behind me on the Metro. He gave me back the wallet and walked off. I checked it and then thumped him hard as I was angry ( probably a stupid thing to do!)
Last week on Line 3 I was on a crowded escalator when a small woman pushed in front of me. When we got to the top she dropped some coffee beans on the floor and stopped to picj them up while another woman tried (in vain) to get my wallet. A few minutes later at the top of another esclator a man stopped in front of me. I glanced behind me and saw the coffee bean woman so I continued walking 'through' the crouching man knocking him over. People behind trampled on him too!
Apparently both these methods are very commonly used but of course tourists may not know this. The Metro staff (drivers) have even taken to using megaphones to warn people about the presence of groups that look suspicious at key platforms like Diagonal. A bit like huntsmen blowing the trumpet when they see fox!
Barcelona is trying to do something about it though.A new plain clothes force will be patrolling the Metro and its platforms this summer and will beactive
Thursday 9 June 2011
Violence filmed in Pza Cataluña
A recent emotive Utube (shot May 29, the morning after thousand of fans had been celebrating Barças European Cup win) showed police using violence against people from the encampment in Plaza Cataluña and against two individuals in particular: an old tramp and a man in a wheelchair. The media naturally made a meal out of the whole affair and yesterday Counsellor Puig who is responsible for security in the region made a statement to the Catalan Parliament.
He admitted that (he) and the police had made errors in attempts to 'control' the population in the square. He stated that: one, timing (early morning) was not ideal, but he had wanted to avoid a 'night attack' which would have shown that the police were trying to dislodge the indignados from their encampment; two
police had understimated the violence the campers would use;
As excuse he stated some troublesome Barca fans had gone into the camp and used missiles from there against the police. Police had sought dialogue but couldn't find anyone to talk to who was a representative for the group of campers.
He denied that police initiated any violence and that they only reacted to violence used against them. Equally he denied that the police beat up a tramp and the man in the wheelchair stating that the latter was used as a human shield.
Furthermore he criticised the media for showing biased film footage and for releasing the address of a policeman involved which resulted in the officer's house being graffitied.
He asked parliament what kind of public order they wanted in the country - one in which violence against the police is condoned and goes unpunished?
The situation is, like most clashes between police and demonstrators, not black and white. Aggression gives rise to aggression. Police get their blanket orders to contain any crowds whether passive or violent but the police are individuals too. Security chiefs don't always get it right. No politician or police chief likes carrying the can because it can mean political death. The best way is to spread blame around thinly on your supporters and thickly on the opposition, if possible further tarnishing thir image - in this case the indignados camping in the square - who are not popular in an area with businesses which feed off tourism. Whether the media were biased in (not) mentioning/showing the violence is debatable (May 9 was the first mention I found in the right wing La Vanguardia for example) but what is not debatable is the unfaked extreme and excessive violence filmed.
Unfortunately the police have a poor record all over Europe for the way that they control political demonstrations - it's true of course that they have an extremely difficult job but there is no excuse for unnecessary violence. G8 and G20 meetings are notably political flashpoints as are demonstrations against human rights, racism and unemployment as seen in the UK, Greece Italy or France - especially when someone is killed or seriously injured as a result of police action. Of course it is also difficult to assess how much provocation of police is used - a male drunk can be extremely unreasonable and violent and a large crowd even worse. In the past Cataluña's Mossos have come in for much criticism for over-zealous LAPD style control of people they arrested. The problem for them now is modern technology has made police actions instantly visible and counter-action possible to the whole world through social networks Twitter, Facebook and Utube which now act as a balance to the battery of security cameras around the world secretly filming our daily lives. Whichever side of the socio-political fence you sit on you are no longer invisible and Sr Puig and his Mossos should have known that.
He admitted that (he) and the police had made errors in attempts to 'control' the population in the square. He stated that: one, timing (early morning) was not ideal, but he had wanted to avoid a 'night attack' which would have shown that the police were trying to dislodge the indignados from their encampment; two
police had understimated the violence the campers would use;
As excuse he stated some troublesome Barca fans had gone into the camp and used missiles from there against the police. Police had sought dialogue but couldn't find anyone to talk to who was a representative for the group of campers.
He denied that police initiated any violence and that they only reacted to violence used against them. Equally he denied that the police beat up a tramp and the man in the wheelchair stating that the latter was used as a human shield.
Furthermore he criticised the media for showing biased film footage and for releasing the address of a policeman involved which resulted in the officer's house being graffitied.
He asked parliament what kind of public order they wanted in the country - one in which violence against the police is condoned and goes unpunished?
The situation is, like most clashes between police and demonstrators, not black and white. Aggression gives rise to aggression. Police get their blanket orders to contain any crowds whether passive or violent but the police are individuals too. Security chiefs don't always get it right. No politician or police chief likes carrying the can because it can mean political death. The best way is to spread blame around thinly on your supporters and thickly on the opposition, if possible further tarnishing thir image - in this case the indignados camping in the square - who are not popular in an area with businesses which feed off tourism. Whether the media were biased in (not) mentioning/showing the violence is debatable (May 9 was the first mention I found in the right wing La Vanguardia for example) but what is not debatable is the unfaked extreme and excessive violence filmed.
Unfortunately the police have a poor record all over Europe for the way that they control political demonstrations - it's true of course that they have an extremely difficult job but there is no excuse for unnecessary violence. G8 and G20 meetings are notably political flashpoints as are demonstrations against human rights, racism and unemployment as seen in the UK, Greece Italy or France - especially when someone is killed or seriously injured as a result of police action. Of course it is also difficult to assess how much provocation of police is used - a male drunk can be extremely unreasonable and violent and a large crowd even worse. In the past Cataluña's Mossos have come in for much criticism for over-zealous LAPD style control of people they arrested. The problem for them now is modern technology has made police actions instantly visible and counter-action possible to the whole world through social networks Twitter, Facebook and Utube which now act as a balance to the battery of security cameras around the world secretly filming our daily lives. Whichever side of the socio-political fence you sit on you are no longer invisible and Sr Puig and his Mossos should have known that.
Wednesday 8 June 2011
Tourist traps: Summer's here again
Houdini lives on - in Barcelona. Free paper, Que, reports that police have arrested two men for stealing valuable objects from passengers' luggage on the Gerona Airport-Barcelona bus run - from inside the luggage compartment. Their modus operandi was unique, simple, and effective. One man buys a ticket and hands two suitcases to the driver who puts them in the luggage compartment of the bus. The bus sets off and while en route one of the men (slim and only 1.78m in height) breaks out of the larger suitcase (measuring 90x 50 cms) and into several of the other passengers' cases. He takes out any valuable things ( jewellry, high-tech devices etc), puts them in the empty case and gets back in 'his' travelling case. At the bus terminus the other man collects both cases and goes to the bathroom.They both then leave carrying a case each. They were only found out when the 'carrier' left the case with his co-worker behind in the bus. Why he did this this is not mentioned. Amnesia? Panic? A quarrel? Police hanging around the bus station? It's also not clear how the man in the luggage hold locked or even just closed his own case again. But it's a good story just as the tourist season is kicking off here.
The police were impressed at their ingenuity and issue a seasonal warning to all bus and air passengers not to leave take their eyes off their luggage for a moment especially at check in for planes and hotels. The men seemed to be true professionals having special tools for opening zips and locks and a torch. Welcome to the summer silly season once again.
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The police were impressed at their ingenuity and issue a seasonal warning to all bus and air passengers not to leave take their eyes off their luggage for a moment especially at check in for planes and hotels. The men seemed to be true professionals having special tools for opening zips and locks and a torch. Welcome to the summer silly season once again.
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