An Indian entrepreneur has revealed what he did after his passport and cash were stolen in Spain. Ayush Panchmiya said the theft occurred on a Saturday, and he couldn’t approach the Indian Embassy for help as it was closed over the weekend. In posts shared on X and LinkedIn, he recalled the shock he felt when he realised that all his belongings had been stolen in a foreign country.
Ayush Panchmiya received an emergency certificate after his belongings were stolen in Spain. (X/@lets_ash)
He called the two days that followed “the worst 48 hours of his travel life”.
“I lost my passport, US visa, all my cash”
“I lost my passport, US visa, and all my cash… in Spain. Let me walk you through the worst 48 hours of my travel life and how I got out of it,” Panchmiya wrote.
The co-founder of Blockwee, a startup that provides specialized marketing services to Web3 brands, said that he and his team members had landed in Barcelona after a “heavy week” at a crypto conference in Cannes, France.
They were working at a Starbucks outlet, editing content for some clients, when Panchmiya stepped outside to take a call. He left his bag under the table, thinking nothing of it. It was “something I’d done a hundred times on trips like these,” said the Mumbai-based entrepreneur.
Unfortunately for Panchmiya, leaving his bag under the table proved to be a mistake. When he came back, he realised it had been stolen.
Red tape in Barcelona
In his X post, Panchmiya revealed that his bag contained his credit cards, a good chunk of his cash and his passport with his US visa. “Panic hit me. I’d heard all the travel warnings: Be extra careful in Spain, especially Barcelona. But hearing isn’t the same as experiencing,” he said.
Panchmiya immediately approached the staff at Starbucks, requesting them to let him review the CCTV footage. The staff, however, refused, claiming that police had to get involved to review the CCTV footage.
The Indian entrepreneur then approached the nearest police station and relayed his predicament. “And then came the real shock,” he said, revealing that police told him it would take 15 to 20 days to review the CCTV footage.
Time was a luxury that Panchmiya did not have. The theft occurred on a Saturday, and he was due to fly back to India on Monday.
Indian embassy steps in
“The Indian embassy was shut. So I waited, helpless, until Monday morning. Walked in as soon as they opened,” he recalled.
The embassy proved extremely helpful and issued an emergency certificate in just four to five hours. An emergency certificate works like a temporary passport – and Panchmiya was able to board his flight back to India that same evening.
“Now I’m in the middle of applying for a new passport, redoing my visas from scratch, and dealing with everything that comes after such a loss,” he said.
The entrepreneur said he was sharing his experience not to rant but to help people understand their options if they find themselves in a similar situation.
“If you travel often, especially around Europe, this can happen to anyone,” he said. “Ask for an emergency certificate. If your flight is close, they can issue one in hours.”