Years ago I found a foreign hand in my pocket at metro turnstiles in Barcelona, elaborate scheme with 3 people, one covering on the back, one on my right distracting me and one on my left reaching into my pocket.

Something tripped my alarm and I ripped the hand out of my pocket before I lost anything, that dude was gone in a flash, the other two urged me to go through the gates as I would lose my ticket.

Then I remembered the recommendation to swear angrily in Russian at them and came up with a few of those I knew and the other two took a hike very quickly. Apparently they are very afraid of Russian speaking people.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic..

Anyone who doesn't look Spanish is likely to get pickpocketed on Las Ramblas. I've heard multiple stories and seen it myself despite having only visited a few times.

I wouldn't feel unsafe there, but the risk of getting robbed is very high.

You can sit on one of the benches in the busier areas and easily spot the pickpockets and see them going in people's bags and backpacks and taking stuff. This isn't a rare occurrence and it does not take a practised eye to see. The pickpockets are always well dressed (usually very similar to the tourists). I like visiting BCN and I think it's a wonderful city, but it is completely infested with thieves targeting tourists to a degree that I have not seen in other European cities.

I'm surprised this is not common knowledge among people from there, maybe try 15-20 minutes people watching anywhere along Las Ramblas and see for yourself. Busy, sunny days with lots of people and police around are the best times to spot the thieves. You'll also frequently see tourist couples speaking to police reporting the robberies. You can watch the body language and gestures from a distance and it is very obvious.

My friend went to Barcelona and ended up in the hospital with a whole lot of stitches after being mugged in a tourist area after dark.

The place is also fairly well known for robberies of tourists in rental cars on the way to and from the airport. We were cautioned about this and rented a car from the other side of town instead.

I'm a foreigner living in Barcelona for four years, only once has someone tried to pickpocket me and I noticed them easily. I agree with your sentiment though, Barcelona feels like an incredibly safe city (at least in the center/Eixample) and I've never felt worried at night. Having lived/visited in Leeds/London and NYC in my experiences they are vastly more worrying/dangerous at night.

My grandpa was visiting Barcelone about 3 years ago and he got mugged in broad daylight. He's 80 years old. One mugger put him in a chokehold while the other emptied his pockets.

My grandpa lost consciousness and had to be taken to a nearby hospital.

After he woke up, he said the people around the incident just ignored them, even though he called for help. He said he got the impression that it must be an everyday occurrence.

I once had a mugger in a chokehold in Las Ramblas after he tried to get my friend's wallet.

More anecdotal : I live close to Malaga and I travel a lot in and outside the EU: only place I got mugged (at knife point) was Barcelona.

Last year I was mugged away from Las Ramblas, guy ran up to me, pushed me from behind and got my phone while I was on the floor. I had my hand on the damn thing at the time too! This was on a busy street around 1am. So while perhaps not typical it does happen.

Bastard ran up £3k in premium rate calls by the time I got back to the hotel to cancel it. Luckily I was refunded for those!

A friend from Barcelona sent me this

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2239466/

thieves target tourists.