Reported crime in the city dropped by 0.5%. The figure is below the average for Catalonia, where the number rose by 2.5%. The use of police intelligence enabled the Barcelona Police Region to redress the 8.6% increase in crime from 2023 compared to the previous year.

The increase in police activity has also translated into an increase in detentions. The first half of the year saw 14,192 detentions, some 9.1% more than for the same period last year. As for those investigated, the figure rose by 12.3% to reach 30,551 people. The percentage of cases resolved also rose by 3.6%.

During the first six months of the year, the City Police handled 278,471 incidents, of which 21,015 were linked to anti-social behaviour. In all, 46,374 denouncements were made within the context of the Pla Endreça, 23,200 of these for unauthorised street vending, particularly the sale of food and drink in public spaces, plus over 20,000 for the consumption of alcohol in public spaces.

Crimes against property down

Thefts dropped by 5.1% in 2024 (from 50,091 to 47,521), representing over half (59%) of all crime in Barcelona. Of this total, 40.3% of crime occurred in public streets, 30.8% in commercial establishments and 24.4% on public transport. The Pla Tremall policing plan has enabled 265 multiple reoffenders to be identified during this period.

Also worth noting is the drop of 3% in snatching and 7.7% in muggings. In contrast, crimes against people, accounting for 7.58% of crimes, were up 9.4% (from 6,367 to 6,964).

Fight against drug trafficking and prevention of sexual violence

Crimes against public health were also up, rising by 10.3% (from 887 to 978), an increase that can be understood by the increase in police activity through specific operations designed to combat drug trafficking, with 84 sales points deactivated, 48 homes recovered and 84 people detained.

Preventive patrols linked to actions plans against sexual violence and to police nightlife have been stepped up, mushrooming by 100%, while those within the Pla Tremall increased by 38%.

This continued presence on the streets has helped reduce the number of crimes and improve the perception of security among the public. Reports of sexual aggression were down by 2.5% in the first half of 2024 (from 530 to 517), with the resolution of these cases reaching 80.46%.

Domestic and gender violence and hate crimes

Gender violence rose by 5% and domestic violence by 10.4%, particularly notable in the sphere of abuse in the home. Similarly, hate crime and discrimination rose by 13% (from 84 to 95), and at the same time and protection measures increased from 2,474 to 2,645.

The City Police has been operating two Victim Support Services for the last year and a half, one at the Nou Barris Territorial Unit and the other at the former police station for the Ciutat Vella Territorial Unit in La Rambla, which has attended to nearly 1,000 women.

400 new officers

Barcelona will get 400 new Mossos d’Esquadra police officers this summer from the Institute of Public Security of Catalonia. The new influx forms part of the Master Plan on Security prepared by the Catalan police corps ahead of the America’s Cup, which is expected to attract over two and a half million visitors.