[ljm]

At least for Barcelona the theft is incredibly organised, and with the assumption that a passing tourist will just pay to replace their phone or use their insurance, the theft itself might be far more lucrative than whatever honest buck is available.

It is generally only the tourists that are targeted, to the point where some people will tell you to yell at the assailant in Spanish to guilt them into giving your stuff back to show you're not one of the people they should be stealing from.

To show how bizarre this can be, on a purely anecdotal level, I was jumped in Barcelona more than once, and even with the opportunity to take my wallet and cash they ignored it and went only for the phone. Physical violence is avoided, more often than not.

Barcelona in particular has had an anti-tourism mentality for quite some time (and not without good reason) so a lot of this petty crime appears to exist as a result of that. This is just from experience of living there a few years, though.

Surveillance and police presence won't really solve this because of how sneaky the theft can be (e.g. knifing your pocket or rucksack while you sleep on the metro and sliding your phone out), the best deterrent is your own awareness. Good luck with that if you're out there to party.

Of course, the same can be said for any country enjoying its influx of wealthy tourists. Barcelona isn't unique in this.