The former British Olympic sailor Sir Ben Ainslie was recently robbed of his Rolex watch at knifepoint in Barcelona.

The 47-year-old, who is the most successful sailor in Olympic history, was in the Spanish city for the America’s Cup sailing competition. He was robbed outside a restaurant, according to local media reports.

Barcelona has earned the reputation as Spain’s pickpocket capital in recent years, with reported robbery rates far above other cities in the country.

In February another sports star, Núria Picas, widely held as one of the world’s best ultra runners, was robbed at Barcelona’s El Prat airport. 

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Social media has been full of reports and footage of tourists reporting pickpockets or robberies in the northeastern city in recent years. Barcelona is one of most visited cities in Europe, welcoming over 15 million tourists in 2023 according to data from Barcelona’s Tourism Observatory.

One of the negative consequences of this is that Barcelona has become a goldmine for low-level criminals who not only exploit the abundance of distracted tourists exploring the city, but also the fact that Spanish law is relatively soft on pickpockets and allows them to steal goods worth less than €400 and not face a prison sentence if caught.

In Spanish the word hurto encompasses different non-violent forms of stealing other people’s property, from pickpocketing to stealing from shops or burglaries. These are common on public transport and beaches, as well as in busy touristy areas of the city such as the famous Las Ramblas and inner-city neighbourhoods known for crime such as El Raval.

Increasingly, however, more targeted and violent robberies have occurred specifically targeting watches and other luxury items, as with Ainslie and his Rolex watch.

How likely is it you’ll be robbed in Barcelona?

There are conflicting crime statistics out there when it comes to Barcelona, especially when it comes to grouping petty pickpocketing with more violent robberies and overall theft rates. However, some of the data is useful in giving us an idea of how likely being robbed is in Barcelona.

Figures from Barcelona town hall show that pickpocketing accounts for around half (48.1 percent) of all crimes committed in Barcelona. The most common items stolen are phones, handbags, watches and jewellery.

In 2023 there were over 100,000 pickpocketing incidents and up to 140,000 thefts of different kinds in the Catalan capital, a figure that works out to roughly 400 a day. Many Spanish media outlets report this daily average as much higher.

What is clear is that Barcelona is by far the leader in Spain in terms of thefts and robberies. Incredibly it recorded 60 percent more thefts than Madrid (88,516) in 2023 despite the capital having roughly double the population.

In that sense, you’re statistically more likely to be pickpocketed or robbed in Barcelona than you are elsewhere in Spain.

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However, paradoxically crime in Barcelona is growing but at the same time falling overall in terms of long-term trends. Although in 2023 there were 8.57 percent more incidents in the Catalan capital than in 2022, the figure is still well below that of 2019 and pre-pandemic levels more generally.

Equally, EU Fact Checking services have previously debunked allegations that Barcelona has the highest overall crime rates in Spain. Levels of thefts and robberies, however, are clearly high in the city and higher than most other places.

So, on one hand you’re therefore probably more likely to be robbed in Barcelona than you are in other Spanish cities, but you’re less likely to be robbed there than you were in the past.

Barcelona is a generally safe city. As a tourist there, it’s always good to be on guard with your personal belongings, try to avoid overly-busy areas, and if possible don’t display expensive items of clothing, jewellery and technology when out and about, especially at night.

It’s also worth remembering that those unlucky people who are robbed in Barcelona often make the headlines or post about it on social media, whereas we don’t hear about the millions who come and enjoy the city without incident every year.

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