Thieves in Madrid!

Living in any big city always comes with a price. Whether it be expensive house prices or traffic, there’s always a catch, and in Madrid that seems to be the vast amount of pick pockets in operation. Since being here nearly everyone I have met has had something stolen at one point or another. These thieves prey on tourists and students so be aware when speaking your native tongue in public; you will become an instant target!

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My first experience of theft was when my sister came to visit. Having spent the day walking carelessly through the city centre towards Retiro and stopping outside the Museo del Prado for a coffee, I let my guard down for one split second and my phone was gone!

Being addicted to my phone, I usually have it glued to my hand and if anyone ever asked me of its whereabouts I would 100% know! However, as I had a visitor I was keen not to be stuck to my phone all day and was not really paying attention to it apart from when I was taking it out to get some touristy snaps.

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We sat down for lunch and our food arrived. Excited by the tasty looking dish and deep in conversation with my sister I believe I left my phone on the table top. Midway through our meal, two men approached us asking for money. They intrusively pushed a piece of paper under our noses which had some kind of story on it about how they needed money for food. Being that they were two well kept men wearing presentable clothes and noticing they had targeted only us in the restaurant, leaving the native Spanish speakers in peace, we refused them any money and asked them to leave.

The men persisted, pushing this piece of paper into our line of vision before even dropping it on our food. My sister was really frustrated by this point. It is very frustrating when you’re trying to enjoy a meal and and consistently preyed on by beggars. I do think that restaurants in Spain need to make more of an effort to stop beggars from pestering their customers as it is really quite a disturbance. While I understand that some people really do need help, I would be much more likely to give them money if they were sat quietly as some do or were using their natural talents in order to entertain the public in some way!

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Finally, he picked up the paper and left us to finish our meal. Flustered by the incident but unaware of the implications of their visit we paid our bill and headed towards the museum. It was only when my sister asked me to write down the name of some artists whose work was on exhibition that I reached for my phone and realised it was gone. I ran back to security hoping it had fallen out in the bag scanner but to no avail.

We rushed back to the restaurant where they had also seen no trace of it. It dawned on us suddenly that the only place it could be was with these two crooks that had been harassing us during our lunch! Not wanting to jump the gun we left our contact details at the museum in case my phone showed up and feeling defeated but not wanting to spoilt our day we carried on.

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In the morning I went to the minor crimes police station where I relayed my version of events. I soon found the police officer who was recording my details was finishing my sentences for me, proving that in fact it was these two men and was most likely the oldest trick in the book. He asked me whether they had put a piece of paper down and guessed my phone was on the table. After leaving him with the details and taking my report to send to my insurers I just had to accept my phone was gone.

Since the incident I have been sat with friends outside when a similar incident happened. My flatmate had left her purse on the table and three boys appeared, again with pieces of paper, and when I clocked what was going on and grabbed her purse they quickly scarpered. PLEASE WATCH OUT FOR THIS TRICK! Do not waste your time waiting to read their story, it is a scam! Make sure you never leave your personal belongings on display where people can easily swipe them and just have your wits about you! I thought I was careful with my things but this has proved to me I need to be even more so!

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Although it has been quite refreshing not being glued to my phone 24/7 it is a nuisance having no means except Facebook and Skype with which to contact England to speak to my family and boyfriend!