"Keith" <[email protected]> escribió en el mensaje
news:[email protected]...
    > Seville in MAY was 96F a few years back. I couldn't imagine how hot and
    > humid it gets in August. The coastal regions will be cooler.

96 in May is quite rare to experience. Besides, temperatures in August can
reach 105 easily for a week or two, but then it goes down to an average of
90. And it's definitely NOT humid but extremely dry. If you're looking for
more humid kind of heat, go to Marbella. It's cooler at nights, that's
right, but some days it gets to 100º as well, and you've gut plenty of
humidity by the mediterranean sea there... not recommended given the choice.

By the way... cheers from Sevilla, (5º Celsius now)

Following up to Keith

    >I would skip Malaga because from what I understand it is an old commercial
    >port city --- not necessarily catering to the tourist as much as other
    >cities in the Costa Del Sol region. There aren't alot of attractions,
    >restaurants, nightlife, etc. For what it's worth, for a couple years,
    >Malaga was listed on the Travel Warning Sheets put out by the State Dept. as
    >having some of the highest crime statistics in Spain. When we did research,
    >we also found more than one place that listed Malaga has having a high crime
    >rate.

The OP could read this for avoiding crime:-
"http://spainforvisitors.com/archive/features/crimeandsafety_1.htm"

"Scams. If the above is really just ornamented pickpocketing,
actual scams are by no means rare, indeed there is a long
tradition of them in Spain, where they are considered to fall
within the category of the picaresco, even slightly romantic. If
you do not speak good Spanish, you are to a certain extent
protected from many of them, unless you are actually targeted, as
is the case with the "lottery scam" the US State Department is
currently warning against...."
<end quote>

This is the sort of crime you tend to get in Spain, not stuff to
get scared about. I cant so far find stats town v town but my
money is on Barcelona and Madrid to be way out in front for
anything serious.
"http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~fhg/stats.htm"

Murder rates for Spain are low, about same as UK in one source I
looked at (1/4 of US rate) Another, (the one above) has US 16x UK
rate (8.2 v 0.5) and Spain "below the radar".

My conclusion is Americans should not worry about visiting Spain.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

"This is the sort of crime you tend to get in Spain, not stuff to
get scared about. I cant so far find stats town v town but my
money is on Barcelona and Madrid to be way out in front for
anything serious."

The most common crimes against tourists in Spain are pickpocketing or
bag snatching, and you can reduce the risk of those almost to zero by
wearing a money belt and never leaving your stuff unattended. Take
normal precautions when using ATMs, and also watch where you park a
rental car, since in some places windshields get smashed a lot by
thieves.

Barcelona in particular has a few places you need to take extra caution
in. Madrid and Seville have some sketchy parts but the parts of those
cities that are of interest to tourists are very safe. In Barcelona,
during the day pickpockets operate on Las Ramblas, around the Picasso
Museum, and near the Palau Guell. On Las Ramblas there are some
ridiculous scams, but people do fall for them. If someone asks you for
a coin from your country, or pins a flower on your shirt and asks for a
donation, what they want is for you to take out your wallet so they can
grab all the bills and run. Las Ramblas has many street performers,
and if you intend to donate to them, keep a few coins in another pocket
that you can give them so you don't have to pull your wallet out. At
night you should be careful in darkened back alleys in the Barri Gotic
and the Raval, where muggings are not unheard of. If you're out in
either of those neighborhoods late at night, try to walk in a group.

In any case, the crime isn't pervasive at all, the vast majority of
visitors encounter no problems, and what petty crime exists shouldn't
deter anyone from experiencing this fascinating country. Just know
what to expect and take the right precautions.

<[email protected]> escribió en el mensaje
news:[email protected] oups.com...
    > "This is the sort of crime you tend to get in Spain, not stuff to
    > get scared about. I cant so far find stats town v town but my
    > money is on Barcelona and Madrid to be way out in front for
    > anything serious."
    > The most common crimes against tourists in Spain are pickpocketing or
    > bag snatching, and you can reduce the risk of those almost to zero by
    > wearing a money belt and never leaving your stuff unattended. Take
    > normal precautions when using ATMs, and also watch where you park a
    > rental car, since in some places windshields get smashed a lot by
    > thieves.
    > Barcelona in particular has a few places you need to take extra caution
    > in. Madrid and Seville have some sketchy parts but the parts of those
    > cities that are of interest to tourists are very safe. In Barcelona,
    > during the day pickpockets operate on Las Ramblas, around the Picasso
    > Museum, and near the Palau Guell. On Las Ramblas there are some
    > ridiculous scams, but people do fall for them. If someone asks you for
    > a coin from your country, or pins a flower on your shirt and asks for a
    > donation, what they want is for you to take out your wallet so they can
    > grab all the bills and run. Las Ramblas has many street performers,
    > and if you intend to donate to them, keep a few coins in another pocket
    > that you can give them so you don't have to pull your wallet out. At
    > night you should be careful in darkened back alleys in the Barri Gotic
    > and the Raval, where muggings are not unheard of. If you're out in
    > either of those neighborhoods late at night, try to walk in a group.
    > In any case, the crime isn't pervasive at all, the vast majority of
    > visitors encounter no problems, and what petty crime exists shouldn't
    > deter anyone from experiencing this fascinating country. Just know
    > what to expect and take the right precautions.

AMEN

    > >> Nerja is a package holiday destination, avoid in August!
    > >
    > >Nerja seemed
    > >charming enough in early June, and had some nice restaurants in the
    > >older part of town. Even then though, it was beginning to seem quite
    > >package-y.
    > I found Nerja in summer full of northern european tourists, we
    > were mistaken for Germans (and interestingly recieved an apology
    > for that). It does have a certain charm, with its views of the
    > Sierra Nevada and the sea, but I think its suffered from its own
    > popularity. We struggled to find spanish food as almost every
    > places were catering to the tourists with dumbed down menus and
    > IIRC a Mexican restaurant run by someone from Essex or Essen. Its
    > the sort of place where they speak English in the supermarket.
    > After the first day we hired a car and commuted out to the East
    > where there are both non tourist areas and spanish only resorts.
OK, this is true enough if you don't look beneath the surface, but don't
real travellers look below the surface? Nerja is a beautiful little town;
and where the old, original, stone and mud cottages are being redeveloped,
it is done in a sympathetic way. It does also make a good base for local
touring, up into the mountains and along the coast.

We go to a very good real Spanish restaurant (el Puente) - near one of the
big
supermarkets, where they don't speak English too much - you get authentic
food, with wine in the menu of the day, for a very reasonable price.

I have also attended a good language school there, based in a typical old
house round a courtyard with avocado trees.

Paul

PS/ You go to Spanish-only areas? Does that mean you are Spanish? Or do
you just want to pretend you aren't one of the holidaying
thousands/millions?

www.apartment-in-nerja.co.uk

Following up to [email protected]

    >In any case, the crime isn't pervasive at all, the vast majority of
    >visitors encounter no problems, and what petty crime exists shouldn't
    >deter anyone from experiencing this fascinating country. Just know
    >what to expect and take the right precautions.

Yes, I don't understand what the US state dept was on about, or
perhaps on!
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Following up to Paul Hansford

    > with dumbed down menus and
    >> IIRC a Mexican restaurant run by someone from Essex or Essen. Its
    >> the sort of place where they speak English in the supermarket.
    >> After the first day we hired a car and commuted out to the East
    >> where there are both non tourist areas and spanish only resorts.
    >OK, this is true enough if you don't look beneath the surface, but don't
    >real travellers look below the surface?

Surely its easier (and more enjoyable) in a place not full of
package tourists?
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap