TheTraveler

 

ADVENTURE IN MADRID
By Richard and Jean Truman

As we drove down the Calle de la Princessa that late October afternoon, past the Plaza de Espana and on to the Gran Via, we were completely unaware that this "Grand Way", a magnificent street in the heart of Madrid, would be the scene of the start of a series of events that would make our stay in this city an unforgettable experience.

Set high on a wind swept plateau and surrounded by mountains on the north and west, Madrid, the capital of Spain, is one of the most beautiful and cultured cities in Europe. We were looking forward to visiting the Museo del Prado, one of the most important art museums in the world, the Royal Palace, the restaurants and tapa bars and taking day trips to the historic cities of Toledo, Aranjuez, and Segovia, all within an hours drive from the capital.

Sunday morning was spent at the famed El Rastro flea market. It was mid-afternoon when a taxi dropped us off at our hotel overlooking the Plaza de Espana. From there, we walked up the Gran Via looking for a restaurant. Since most Spanish restaurants are closed on Sunday, we had to settle for a hamburger at McDonalds. Entering the restaurant I went to the counter to order and my wife, Jean, took a seat in the corner near a stairwell that went down to the restrooms. Suddenly, Jean called out my name and ran by out of the restaurant shouting that her purse had been stolen. I followed her out to the Gran Via, but whoever had taken the purse was nowhere in sight.

The restaurant manager, a young Spanish woman, advised us to report the theft at the police station at the Puerta del Sol. As we sat in the restaurant eating our lunch we tried to determine what had happened. We concluded that when Jean sat down at the table near the stairway, she put her purse on the floor. Almost immediately, a young Spanish man came past the table, spoke to her, distracting her while someone else snatched the purse from the stairwell by reaching through the guardrail surrounding the stairwell opening. As we sat there we also noticed young men would come into the restaurant, sit down without ordering, move from table to table and appeared to be looking for their next victim. We also saw a young man talking to a group of five or six other men. The group was very attentive to what this man was saying, and we concluded that perhaps he was the leader of a group of thieves that were preying on tourists.

When the leader left the restaurant, alone, I decided to follow him. He walked up the Gran Via to another American fast food restaurant. Out of the restaurant came a man carrying a large, full, gym bag. He spoke briefly with the man I had followed, and set off waking through the back streets of Madrid. Thinking that the thief may have passed off Jean's purse to the man carrying the bag, I decided to follow him. After a half-mile walk, he entered an apartment building where he disappeared from view.

Making note of the address, I returned to McDonalds where my wife had been anxiously waiting. On the way, two blocks from the restaurant, I saw the McDonalds' manager huddled on the sidewalk, in animated conversation, with the man I had followed from the restaurant. Could she have been involved in this theft?

Leaving McDonalds, we walked to the Puerta del Sol where we were informed by a guard at the police station that the station was closed on Sunday. The crime could not be reported until Monday morning. We then decided to walk back to the apartment building where I had lost the man with the bag. Although we doubted we would find anything useful, we were in luck. Standing on the balcony, three floors above the street, in conversation with another man, was the man with the bag. Now we knew the exact location of the apartment where we thought the purse might be found.

At the police station on Monday morning we related this story to four detectives. We left the police station, thinking that this would be the last we would ever hear about the incident, and continued our tour of the city.

When we returned to our hotel that evening, we were informed by the concierge that the police had called with a message that they had raided the apartment, and wanted us at the station the next morning for a lineup. We were elated that the police had followed through, and hopeful that they had found the purse. But we were also concerned that our well-planned trip was about to be interrupted. Nevertheless, we were at the station early the next morning.

We were informed that two men had been arrested, and many purses, wallets, passports, jewelry, and some drugs had been found in the apartment. Unfortunately, Jean's purse was not found. The lineup consisted of the two men arrested, seated in a small room, behind a door with a one way window. These men, who were from Columbia, did not look like anyone you would like to see move in next door. By the look on their faces, they were not happy campers. We, however, did not recognize them as anyone that we had seen the day before.

Although we were disappointed that the purse was not recovered, we could take some satisfaction in the fact that a ring of thieves and drug dealers that preyed on tourists had been put out of business. Others, who might have been their victims, would be spared an unpleasant experience. Later that week as our plane lifted off from Barajas Airport, we weren't sure when we would return, but we knew that we would never forget this adventure in Madrid.

Richard and Jean Truman are freelance travel writers based in Georgia and regular contributors to The Traveler.

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