Stay Safe From Pickpockets by Sharing Taxis From Málaga Airport

I love Málaga with its lively café culture, friendly locals and great beaches and I’ve also been told that it is one of the safest cities in Spain with a very low rate of violent crimes, but like any city it can be a rich playground for pickpockets.

Recently I took a family to the airport at the end of their holiday who told me that when they’d first arrived in Malaga they’d been the victims of a pickpocket gang as they’d got off the bus at Málaga Bus Station on their way from the airport.

The mother of the family told me that they usually took taxis from Málaga airport but that the queue had been so long that day that they’d decided to take the bus. When they’d got off the bus at the bus station in Málaga with their suitcases they’d taken a moment to look around and work out the route to their hotel and that was when it had happened.

A group of young girls had approached them and stood quite close. The girls had seemed oblivious to the family, chatting and laughing amongst themselves until one of them knocked against the mother and stayed pressed against her. The mother had tried to move away but the girl stuck with her. That was when the mother noticed an older woman standing a little distance apart from them, staring directly at her. Thinking this was strange she stared back.

When she later found her purse had been taken out of her shoulder bag, the mother felt that the girls’ chatter and the older woman’s staring had been the distraction the pickpocket had needed so that she could take the purse.

Staying Safe From Pickpockets in Málaga

You never look quite so much like a defenceless tourist as when you first arrive in a city, weighed down with luggage and not quite sure where to go next. It’s worth making sure that your transfer from the airport is planned and swift, rather than relying on a public transport system you may not be familiar with.

As the family I met found out, queues for taxis from Málaga airport can be long, but had they booked an shuttle transfer with a reputable company like mine, a driver like me would have been waiting for them when they arrived and driven them straight to their hotel.

Sharing a transfer can be a great, economical way of getting to your destination in a safe, comfortable way without having to deal with the queues and haggling involved in organising local taxis from Málaga airport.

Because you can book the service before you travel you can be sure that it will be there to meet you when you get off the plane. You’ll be told when you book exactly how much the journey will cost. You will be dropped you at your hotel door so that you won’t need to stand around on the street with your luggage.

The added bonus of sharing an airport transfer is that it can even work out cheaper than taxis from Málaga airport, because a group of you can share the cost and stay safe.

All that being said, don’t let pickpockets put you off your holiday in Málaga. Just be aware of the people around you and what they’re doing and keep your belongs close in well zipped up bags or inside pockets.