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Theft
Distraction pickpocketing
Spain's most common crime against tourists, and Barcelona has the worst reputation in Europe for it. Teams work La Rambla, Metro L3, Plaça Catalunya, Madrid's Puerta del Sol and Gran Vía, and Seville's cathedral area: one asks for directions or drops something, another lifts the bag while you look away.
How to avoid it: Carry a zipped cross-body bag in front of you, never in a back pocket or hung on a chair. Keep your phone off the restaurant table. Split cash and cards between two places. If someone crowds you on the metro or 'helps' clean a stain off your jacket, step back and check your pockets immediately, not later.
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Impersonation
Fake plain-clothes police check
Two men in plain clothes flash a badge, claim to be checking for counterfeit notes or drugs, and ask to see your wallet and passport. They palm cash or card details while handing everything back, and are gone before you count it.
How to avoid it: Real Spanish police do not stop tourists in the street to inspect wallets or count cash. Do not hand over anything. Say you will walk with them to the nearest police station or hotel reception, and they will drop it. Keep your passport in the hotel safe and carry a photocopy.
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Forced gift
The rosemary sprig
A woman presses a sprig of rosemary into your hand 'for luck', grabs your palm to read your fortune, then demands €20 or more and gets loud if you refuse. Common outside Seville's cathedral, around Granada, and near Madrid's main squares.
How to avoid it: Do not accept the sprig and do not let anyone take your hand - keep both hands in your pockets as you pass. A firm 'no, gracias' without breaking stride is enough. If one is already in your hand, drop it and walk on; you owe nothing for something you never asked for.
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Dining
Tourist-trap menus and per-100g seafood
Restaurants on La Rambla, Plaza Mayor and around the Alcázar push photo menus of frozen 'paella', charge fish and shellfish per 100g so a plate lands at €60 or more, and add bread, olives or a cover charge nobody mentioned.
How to avoid it: Avoid anywhere with photographs of the food outside or a tout at the door. Ask the total price in euros before agreeing to anything sold 'por 100 gramos'. Send back bread or olives you did not order. Two or three streets back from any monument, the same meal costs half as much and is cooked to order.
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Ticketing
Unofficial ticket sites and street resellers
Search results for the Sagrada Família, the Alhambra and Seville's Alcázar are full of lookalike sites charging double, and touts outside sold-out monuments sell timed tickets that are void because they are registered to another name.
How to avoid it: Type the official domain yourself rather than clicking a search advert: sagradafamilia.org, parkguell.barcelona, alcazarsevilla.org, museodelprado.es. Never buy a ticket from someone in the street. If the official site is sold out, a licensed platform like GetYourGuide holds a separate allocation - that is legitimate, a man with printouts is not.
FairFare