Is La Rambla Barcelona safe at night? As a Barcelona tourist guide, this question arises more than most, especially due to crime in Barcelona. We take a look at this important street at night and find out if it is safe to be there.
The question whether La Rambla Barcelona is safe at night is a question many visitors to Barcelona ask me. Tourists that have hotels located on or near La Rambla may be concerned on returning home to the area at night. When tourists ask me whether La Rambla is dangerous at night, my reply is always it is risky, but not dangerous. I believe the word dangerous is something you give a war zone or a neighborhood ruled by gangs. La Rambla at night will definitely have thieves and criminals working and searching for opportunities, as does many other large cities. The phrase “looking for opportunities” is exactly right, they will seek an opportunity to commit a crime.
So, what are the opportunities that can make tourists vulnerable? The first thing any thief or pickpocket will look for is someone drunk. The prime target is someone intoxicated after a night out, and walking home alone. The reasons for this are simple, if you are drunk, you will have slow reactions and not remember the perpetrator’s appearance. You will also be easy to be fooled by a pickpocket that is joking with you, showing you a trick or messing about. Remember, with alcohol you may be amused by all this, but these people will distract you while reaching for your wallet. Such tactics could be showing you a trick, game, asking for help or similar confidence tactics to get your attention. Remember, on La Rambla late a night, no one will want to become your new-found friends without a reason. After drinking alcohol, the best thing is always to get a taxi to the door of your hotel.
When you are on your own and need to walk down La Rambla at night, especially if you are a woman or older person, caution is advised. See if there are any better routes, get a taxi or bus if possible. If these options are not possible keep very vigilant, avoid any suspicious people or groups, and try to keep close to other people.
Our Tips For Keeping Safe On Barcelona’s La Rambla
Here are a few tips and suggestions to help make sure you don’t fall in to a situation that can be avoided. These tips and advice on keeping safe apply La Rambla and the whole of Barcelona. Of course, the best advice is to always keep vigilant walking home late at night.
- Remember, muggers and pickpockets love to target people who have been drinking. It makes their job much easier. Avoid drinking to excess, if you are planning a night out, get a taxi as close to your hotel as possible. Walk home in a group and try to keep away from suspicious or dodgy people. Keep vigilant at all times!
- Some side streets just off La Rambla can be problematic at night. If possible, keep to main avenues and busy streets, even if it means taking slightly longer to get home.
- If there are other larger groups of tourists or other people walking home, try to keep close to them. Criminals don’t want witnesses to their crimes, they also will prefer to wait for when the area is quiet. It is the “safety in numbers theory”
- Keep to busy, well lit areas, walk close to taxi ranks, shops or other places that are still open. Avoid dark, quiet areas within this district. Take out only what you may need, leave valuables in hotel safety deposit box. Pin lock mobile phone, back up photos and videos and activate “find my phone”. Also, make sure no passwords are in the note section of your phone!
- If you plan to go out drinking or to enjoy the nightlife, think about booking a hotel on a main road. Some hotels close to La Rambla may be down some side streets. This means walking down much quieter streets at night, compared to during the day. Booking hotels on main avenues or streets also means you can get a taxi right to the front entrance.
So above are a few suggestions to keeping safe in Barcelona at night. The tourist crime rate in Barcelona may be slightly above some other European cities. This is why if you follow the advice above and keep vigilant and use common sense you are very likely not to have any problems walking home at night.
Always remember these numbers 112 or 092. These are the numbers in case of an emergency to call the police for assistance.
