Re: One all purpose zoom for travel in Spain.

Messier Object wrote:

I was going to recommend the 12-100mm F4 until I read your “no Pro lenses”

regarding security . . .

In Barcelona, La Rambla and the other popular tourist venues such as La Sagrada Familia have a reputation for being high risk of pickpockets.

We spent a week in Barcelona last year and the advice given by hotel staff, taxi drivers etc

As the most usual advice from tourist guide:

was to not wear any backpacks or shoulder bags on your back

= 100% invitation to pocketpicker to try it

or at your side -

=50% welcome pocketpicker

always at the front.

= 100% safe

On one occasion we were walking with some Spanish friends on the Rambla and we were approached by a uniformed Police officer who advised one of our party to bring her shoulder bag around to the front.

My last visit there (a 12 days trip to portugal and Spain) was in 2018.

When we finished our planned visiting in Toledo, we walked to the underground garage to our coach for next destination. During the <10 minutes walking, a few young local girls (or gypsies might be?) walked into our group of 20 tour members. One guy had his backpack at his back. Inside a staircase to the garage, 2 of those young girls surrounded him, joking loudly to distract his attention. Another girl unzip his backpack from behind... Fortunately one of tour group members saw it and alerted the group. Nothing lost, the girls dispatched quickly like nothing had ever happened...

I personally had my wallet stolen from my leg pocket of my cargo pants in Prague a few years ago. Since then, I keep small changes only inside my pant/jacket pocket. My travel documents and wallet etc will be stored inside the inner compartment of my shoulder camera bag. When at any tourist spot, or it will be crowded, my camera bag will alway be in front of me around my belly for security and easy lens swapping.

That said, we never felt unsafe in Barcelona and even found the Metro to be very good. My advice is to just use common sense, don’t carry valuables in your pockets, don’t carry unnecessary gear and don’t use bags which have easy-open zips or pockets.

I carried the E-M1 II with 12-100 F4 in a small shoulder bag along with phone etc without any concerns. The bag has a flap with hidden buckle and noisy Velcro fasteners, so not an easy target for pickpockets, and was easy to keep it under my arm and pull it around to the front in crowds

We did get caught up in the Catalonian separatist protests and associated transport blockages, so while there keep an eye on the news for any pending ‘events’.

We had no security concerns in the other cities we visited; Madrid, Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, Cadiz, Segovia and no problems riding buses and intercity trains, or walking in the streets.

Peter

Last time I used a GX7, 7-14 f/4, 12-35 f/2.8, 45-150 and 15 f/1.7. My wife used GX85 and 14-140. We had taken around 8K images plus many short video back home which had been converted into a ~5.5 hours travelling video for that trip... I found an ultra wide angle lens could be very interesting inside the beautiful cathedrals there, of course the Sagrada Familia.