European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Crush of tourists could be Good news for Spanish Thieve by James t. Yenckel the Washington Post in the past 12 months at least a half dozen travellers have written or phoned the Washington Post complaining they were recent victims of Street crime in Spain a not an especially alarming number but More than for any other country. This summer Spain is expecting to attract thousands of visitors to expo 92 in Seville the summer olympics in Barcelona and to Madrid the cultural capital of Europe for 1992. Personal safety is an aspect of the trip that must be considered. Last fall my wife and i took a two week drive through Spain. In All honesty the worst problem i encountered was trying to figure out How to get my stick shift rental car in reverse. I expect the overwhelming majority of travellers will have no More than that to fear. And yet i sensed a with no definite proof a that i escaped becoming a victim on at least two occasions because i knew what to expect. And i did overhear the sad tale of one . Couple whose Luggage was stolen from their parked car. Though the threat of crime was never uppermost in our minds it did nag at us and it kept us Alert from the moment we landed in Madrid. I am convinced we became potential targets a fortunately uncooperative ones a almost As soon As we drove away from the Airport in our rental car. At both the Hertz and Avis rental desks clerks regularly hand out copies of warnings issued by both the . Embassy and the British consulate general in Madrid. They caution visitors that thieves posing As Quot Good Samaritans Quot May Stop to offer assistance to Drivers whose cars Are disabled by a Flat tire. But their real intent is to steal handbags cameras Luggage and other valuables. Another variation the Avis clerk told me is to trick Drivers into stopping by indicating they have a Flat tire even when they Don t. Rental cars plastered with a rental firm s logos or vehicles with out of country registration plates Are easily identifiable and can be Rich pickings. In our first half hour on the Road As we headed South from Madrid no fewer than four cars pulled alongside. In each someone motioned energetically in a manner that could Only be interpreted As a warning that one of our front tires was Flat. Aware of the possibility of such a trick we drove on. The car did not handle As if it had a Flat and in fact it did not. Why were the occupants of the four cars motioning for us to Stop i can Only surmise. When we ignored them they pulled away. The . Embassy advises motorists to be Quot extremely cautious Quot about accepting assistance from anyone except a police officer. If you accept assistance from others be protective of your valuables. Luggage locked in the trunk can become vulnerable if a stranger is helping to remove a vehicle Jack or spare tire. As soon As we reached Toledo the first Stop on our drive we slapped expo 92 stickers Over the Avis logos on our car figuring the stickers might hide the fact that our car was a rental. They were being sold in Many shops. Following other advice we also put a Madrid newspaper in the window behind the Back seat suggesting by this that we weren t tourists. Unfortunately there is no Way you can hide that License plate. We kept everything except the Road map and a Guidebook hidden in the trunk. Thieves on motor scooters or afoot Are known to smash a window of a car halted in traffic and run off with whatever is Loose. Don t even Dangle an Arm with a watch out the window in slow traffic because somebody might snatch the watch a and perhaps injure the Arm. We took one other important precaution. We never left our car unattended a or at least unwatched a when we were on the Road with Luggage in the trunk. I had been forewarned about the problem by a colleague who lost valuables she left in the trunk of a car parked overnight just under her hotel room window. An american couple we sat next to in a Seville restaurant reported that All their Luggage was taken when they stopped for an hour to tour a Castle in route. They figured the car was Safe because it was in the visitor parking lot which was teeming with other tourists coming and going. Whether the expo stickers and the newspaper were effective i m hot sure. But once we arrived in Toledo no car again tried to Flag us Down and we lost nothing from the trunk. I was alone when i had my second encounter with a Man i suspect was a pickpocket. Walking across the nearly empty waiting room of a Madrid railway station i suddenly sensed someone immediately behind my right Side. I spun around to face a stranger with his arms oddly extended As if he were1 reaching for something. Fie mumbled what might have been an apology and turned away. Maybe i was Basing a bout of paranoia but i Don t think so. In years of travel to fl0 countries i be never lost a Penny to thieves. Maybe the Guy was about to Hump into me inadvertently. But in an empty space where there was plenty of room to pass1 and Why did he Retreat the Way he presumably had com1 and net continue in the direction he was headed anyway he would t have got a cent from me. As always i wore a neck Pouch tucked under my shirt in which i kept currency traveler s chocks airline tickets credit cards and passport. A amps Gary Miller expo lines Are Good news for pickpockets. Expo v2 is one of the events bringing lots of tourists a and possible crime targets a to  doors Don t guarantee Security by John Taylor staff writer we had heard warnings about problems with thieves and cars in Spain and knew from experience that they weren t unfounded. The list time we were in Spain someone had broken into our Auto. So during a recent trip to Seville we took lots of precautions. And they still got us. It was Early afternoon when we parked our rented car on a Side Street off one of the main routes through town. There were several tour buses and private vehicles most with Spanish tags already on the Street. A steady flow of respectable looking pedestrians passed by. A work Crew was busily repairing a Stone Wall part of the City s expo 92 face lift. Everything left behind was placed in a shoulder bag and locked in the trunk. We Felt pretty secure As we left in Bright sunlight to set the City. When we returned three hours later there were still lots of cars buses and pedestrians. There was plenty of Daylight remaining and the repair Crew was still at work. But something had hanged. The passenger Side door of our car though still lot ked was not completely dosed. We quickly went to the trunk opened it and saw our shoulder bag lying on its Side. All its pockets had been unzipped and its contents spilled about the trunk. Papers tourist information airline tickets and personal items were scattered about with children s toys anti travel games. Fortunately nothing was taken. We had t left any cameras radios electronic games or Cash behind and  was in the bag did t interest the thieves. Upon inspecting the car we saw the key opening for the lock was Bent out of shape. It appeared something perhaps a screwdriver had been inserted and twisted to fort e the lock. Access to the trunk was then gained from the inside by flipping Down the Back seat. Breaking into the car looked fairly simple. Obviously this does t happen to everyone. It does t mean that if you go to Spain you will get robbed or that you should avoid parking your car on the Street no matter How Safe it looks. But it is a Good idea to take the warnings seriously anti to use extra care. We were Lucky the next person might not be. June 11, 1992 stripes Magazine 7