It's all been a bit traumatic this week, on Friday I took my mum into Barcelona for a girly day of shopping - to get over the bus journey our first stop was into our favorite cafe for a coffee. Mum had put her handbag down to take her coat off and it went ...... disappeared within 10 seconds!!!


It was such a shock we just looked at where it should have been and it wasn't there, now keep in mind that we where INSIDE the cafe not at a pavement table and we were not in the most tourist area. Now poor mum had got everything in her handbag - Passport for ID with her credit cards, camera, phone, purse, money, sun glasses …….. Just everything!


Luckily I rang home and dad started the long task of cancelling all the credit cards, getting hold of the Consulate in Barcelona to arrange a new passport and ringing the insurance, while this was going on me and mum where trying to find the Central Police in Plaza Catalyunia (which if you ever need it is down under the fountains in the main square – just follow the signs for the metro). In we walked and waited and waited and waited, finally we got to the front desk where a very helpful woman gave us the forms to fill in, as we are doing it she said There is at least a 3 hour wait at the moment to hand the reports in …….! Aaarghhh 3 hours just to see someone, so they could stamp a report, so the Consulate would issue an emergency passport - it’s true to say the day was not going to plan.


After talking to mum we decided to report the theft to our local police station in Castelldefels as I needed to be back to pick the children up from school. The police where very helpful and provided an interpreter for mum, which was really good as she was still feeling a bit shaky.


Now what I really wanted to say was this – we all know that in big cities you need to watch your bags, but what I hadn’t thought about was that you needed to watch them quite so closely in restaurants and cafes as well. These scumbags ooops sorry people are total professionals and are so quick that you don’t see them or what they are doing. The moral of the story keep your handbag on your knee at all times or loop it through the leg of your chair. Oh and keep the numbers you need to cancel your credit cards somewhere other than your handbag, so you can cancel them before they get a chance to use them.


Useful Number Police 112


Click here http://www.rentalona.com/barcelona/foreign-consulates.htm for a list of Foreign Consulates in Barcelona – they should be able to give you all the help you need.