First, a bit of context. A few weeks ago a friend lost his battle with cancer. We felt devastated for his wonderful wife, three boys and their partners and grandchildren. He was 64. I didn’t know what to say that hadn’t already been said so I sent him a text. It said “RIP mate. Congratulations on a life well lived.” And bugger me if I didn’t receive the following response a few minutes later – “Thanks mate, see you in a few years”. His family appreciated the opportunity to smile and resisted the opportunity to put a specific date in the response which I very much appreciated.
So the child bride having her bag stolen last night, while its a violation and an inconvenience, it’s not such a big deal in the overall scheme of things. We managed to stop the cards before they were used and the phone is password protected so it won’t be any use. Other bits and pieces can be replaced and new credit cards can be issued.
We are reasonably experienced travellers and take precautions against theft and pickpockets and the usual warnings were more intense than usual here in Barcelona which must be the crime capital of Spain judging by the frequency of warnings. If it isn’t it’s certainly the most audacious.
We had returned to our high-end hotel and were sitting in a well lit bar adjacent to a busy restaurant with patrons and waiters constantly moving about. The CB put her bag on the floor next to her feet and when we got up to leave it was gone. Neither of us noticed anyone come close enough to grab it but one of the waiters saw some suspicious people leaving the restaurant in a hurry and took their car registration number …… And didn’t say anything. No one at the hotel wanted to take managerial responsibility despite their hotel being a crime scene. Also they weren’t interested in looking at the recording from the nearby security camera. The police weren’t particularly interested either. Five forms were filled in and we left.
The only positive was the contribution of our Spanish speaking tour director. He took charge of the situation, interrogated the various hotel staff and overall performed extremely impressively and his employer will be advised accordingly. He’s going to go far.
We can add this incident to our thankfully short list of other unfortunate intersections with the criminal class. Our video camera was stolen in London twenty-odd years ago. It was a small hotel in a typical London terraced building. When we left for dinner the receptionist’s boyfriend was loitering. When we got back he was gone and the whole hotel had been turned over. The attending policeman didn’t seem to think that someone having to let the thief into all of the rooms was important. That was the last we heard of it.
Some time before the London episode our house was broken into. They stole watches, jewellery, a video recorder and some booze – kids. Years later the police caught the chief perpetrator via his fingerprints and we received restitution. So the system does occasionally work if you are a permanent resident it appears.