Seville Suggestions

Having just returned from Seville, where I had my own brush with a pickpocket, I would like to add two suggestions to the excellent articles by George Reasons and Dorothy Casperson (May 5). The surest protection is to leave everything of value locked in your hotel safe. Many cities have thieves, but I believe that Seville may be the worst in Spain. Thievery there is a well-established, tax-free industry. Its pickpockets are highly skilled artists at their trade.

Do your souvenir buying in other cities, which have the same stuff to sell. Pickpockets will be watching to see where you put your billfold or wallet, and they have a wide variety of schemes for reaching that spot.

It is a shame that Seville, which has so many sights to offer tourists, seems utterly indifferent to the depredations inflicted upon the guests who pour millions of dollars into its economy annually.

GEORGE C. JORDAN

Altadena