Fewer criminal acts but sexual assaults up by 30% in Barcelona
Authorities brace for "difficult" summer with focus on robberies and gender-based violence
In the first five months of 2022, Barcelona registered 23% fewer criminal acts compared to the same period of 2019, but 31% more sexual assaults. The situation worries local authorities as they prepare for a "difficult" summer season, as Catalan interior minister Joan Ignasi Elena, and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau announced on Thursday.
During a meeting, held in the city council, both political leaders confirmed they will deploy more law enforcement agents to tackle multiple offenders. The Catalan Mossos d’Esquadra police will have 65 more officers, while the Barcelona Guàrdia Urbana police will deploy 112 more agents, to avoid robberies.
This year, there will be a reinforcement of the night squad as security teams are "more ready than ever," Joan Ignasi Elena told media reporters.
The increase of law enforcement agents has been planned considering the expectations for the summer season and the measures to put in place. Authorities believe the city will have the same levels of tourism and economic growth as before the pandemic, therefore they have deployed more police officers.
Robberies and gender-based violence
One of the worries authorities have is the increase of multiple offenders, especially when talking about robberies. Figures do show a decrease in violent robberies on the streets comparing the time going from January to May between 2019 and 2022. This year, officials have recorded 4,136 attacks of this style, 17.5% less than the last full year without the Covid.
But during the first five months of 2022, the Mossos d’Esquadra body detained 109 people, which had been detained up to 792 times, and solved 1,713 robberies.
The most common robbed objects are mobile devices, which account for 52% of the robberies, handbags, 21%, watches, 7.2%, and jewelry, 5.4%.
The vast majority of these actions are undertaken by young people, as Marta Fernández, from the Mossos d’Esquadra Barcelona area explained. What police see is an increase of robbers with little experience, therefore resorting to violence to take the object away.
Regarding gender-based violence increase as there have been 114 complaints filed compared to the 87 registered in 2019. Compared to the last year, there are 6.54% sexual assaults more.
Sexual abuses have also increased by 11.3% compared to 2019 (194 to 216) and by 9.09% compared to 2021.
"It is difficult to know if the increase is due to a rise in gender-based violence acts, or because there are more complaints filed but the acts remain the same," Joan Ignasi Elena concluded.