Hey Jin !
Indeed it's always better to keep with some common safety tips. There's no need to get obsessed with it (as they do in that Pnet's Barcelona travel tips article), yet observe some common precautions.
You can also get word from Francisco Solares-Larrave and get the point of view of a fellow RFFer who visited in 2004.
Pickpockets do exist, and in fact they are more active now than a couple years ago. Backpacks, waistbags and bags carried without care and out of your sight are their best target. What I always use to do is to wear my backpack in a reverse way, stuff on my belly. Not only it's way easier to reach into it for things and does less harm to my back, but also any hand trying to reach into it will pass in front of your eyes
🙂
When sitting somewhere for dinner, coffee, drink etc also be sure to have your things controlled. The terraces along La Rambla will sure serve you, but they are quite impersonal and mostly tourist oriented. Most English soccer teams fans use to spend all day there drinking beer when they visit for some match
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Big tourists groups when they stop to give instructions or check maps are also a favorite of them.
Try to avoid as possible highly crowded points, both in the transport (train, bus, metro) and in some streets (Ramblas), if you get into them, be sure to have your bag in your front and your things under control.
Pickpockets can have many faces, but some of the more common recently have been Eastern Europe or Moroccoan kids 'working' for their 'parents', and generally speaking people from those areas, even though there are for sure Barcelonian ones.
Watch out for sudden 'too helpful' people or others asking too many dumb questions, one of them can distract you while the other is out of your sight reaching into your possessions. If you have to stop to check a map or direction or ask for something, just don't mind walking a bit more to reach a frequented point. People looking at maps with a puzzled look is like shouting 'foreigner!'
🙂
Some of the streets side of La Rambla are wonderful photo locations, just note that when stores close, at 8 pm or so, they can get empty quite fast and some of them are not really recommendable at night.
That said, it's pretty much having common sense. If you've ever visited some of the touristic cities in Europe, the same safety tips will do.
As for cameras, if I were a camera thief I'd be used to see mainly two kinds of cameras, digital P&S and digital SLRs. Any RF for that matter is seen as an 'old funky looking camera'
🙂 There are TONS of people wearing camera bags. It's always better not to wear a giant CANON or NIKON bag, but as I said, tons of people do.
Public transportation is quite secure and also the best and cheapest way to move around. I have nothing against cab drivers but don't fancy making them richer either, only when there's no other option. When arriving, check for a tourist info center for train / buses / metro maps and plan your way around with them. I did this myself in Rome a couple weeks ago, and worked like a charm
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Castelldefels is quite near the airport and I think you can get a train from the airport but not direct, you'd have to commute probably at El Prat Station, so, for this it may be better to do a small sacrifice and get a taxi. It's a beach-oriented city with some wonderful beaches, depending of the zone it also has a lot of night life, which can be both good and bad...
Here's a website which can provide you with more info
http://www.bcn.es/turisme/english/turisme/
And finally, have in mind that this above is quite exaggerated, what I really recommend you is to use your common sense, always have your things under control, wander around enjoying it (I love doing that) but at the same time trying not to get lost in non-desirable areas, and not to look 'too tourist'
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And of course, enjoying it, because I'm sure you'll do !
Oscar
PS: Ooops, seen the tripod question: I don't use to see a lot of them here, and certainly their use inside churches etc couldn't be allowed...
