Flagrant increase in robberies in L'Hospitalet: the Mossos focus on young people with scooters
The crimes in the second most populated city in Catalonia rose by 10% in one year, while they fell in the rest of the country
L'Hospitalet de LlobregatNormally, the exit from Collblanc metro station, in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, is a bustle of people. People entering and leaving the station, moving along the parallel tracks, and shopping in the businesses surrounding Plaça de la Solidaritat. This Friday afternoon, however, there are more people than usual. A handful of onlookers observe a machine in a semicircle. It is metallic, has two wheels, and right above it, a Local Police officer places an electric scooter. The machine's wheels turn, making the scooter's wheels turn. The officer looks at a tablet to check the result and shortly after looks at the scooter rider with a look of concern. It's been tampered with. The machine has concluded it can reach 60 km/h. The City Council takes the scooter away, and the rider gets a fine.
Electric scooters are accumulating at this spot in the square. "Yes, it's been tampered with, no need to look," admits a rider. Just at this moment, the radio of a Mossos d'Esquadra officer crackles. Over the airwaves, they describe how a mobile phone, a Samsung, has just been snatched in the Pubilla Cases neighborhood. The thief fled at full speed on an electric scooter towards Esplugues de Llobregat. The Mossos have encountered thieves fleeing on scooters that reached 130 km/h. Everything happens very quickly because a few minutes later the radio sounds again: now they have robbed a supermarket. In 2025, crimes decreased by 4.1% in Catalonia and 6.1% in Barcelona, but rose by 10% in the second most populated city in the country, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.
While police activity increased, with 10% more arrests, crimes also did: there were 5.9% more robberies with violence and intimidation, 5% more thefts, and 52% more vehicle break-ins. Now, above all, the police are concerned about the rise in violent robberies. In 2025, there were more than seven every day in the city, mainly perpetrated by increasingly young individuals on scooters who have a preference for mobile phones. Both the thieves and the victims are residents of L'Hospitalet; a phenomenon that doesn't happen in Barcelona, where mainly tourists are mugged and the perpetrators of the robberies don't even live in the Catalan capital.
Movement and density
The Mossos believe that behind this increase there may be a displacement of crime after a lot of police pressure in the center of Barcelona and at El Prat airport. They also indicate that L'Hospitalet is a city with a high population density – it has the highest in Catalonia by far – and that there are also very busy transport hubs, such as Collblanc station itself. Furthermore, there is the factor of the vulnerability of certain neighborhoods in the municipality. "50% of the population lives in five neighborhoods," exemplified Superintendent Sònia Rius, head of the Mossos in L'Hospitalet.
This cocktail has led the Catalan police to launch a new plan called Bastió. "We want to reverse this crime curve and increase the perception of safety," explained Superintendent Miquel Hueso, deputy head of the Territorial Superior Commissariat of the Mossos. This is an operation that has been underway for a month and represents an intensification of controls and police presence, accompanied by an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of violent robberies.
Hand in hand with the Kanpai plan, designed to combat repeat offending, Bastió is based on four main pillars. These are prevention, with more patrolling in hot spots; detection, with more plainclothes officers on the streets; investigation, by dedicating more resources to investigating these robberies and also catching those who buy the stolen goods; and victim support, Rius specified.
First results
The Mossos defend that the plan has caused a 10% drop in violent robberies and a 16% decrease in thefts from inside vehicles. Furthermore, more thieves are being sent to preventive detention. The robberies are concentrated in the afternoons, especially on Wednesdays and Sundays. The neighborhoods with the highest incidence are Santa Eulàlia, Pubilla Cases, la Florida, Collblanc, and la Torrassa. The Mossos state that the hottest areas coincide with those spaces where there are also more drug dealing points and more fights.
A pattern is observed in the perpetrators of these robberies: they are very young individuals who mostly travel by scooter. 87% are men and 22% are minors. In other words, two out of every ten robberies are committed by a teenager. In fact, this year, four cases of robberies have been committed by individuals under 14 years of age. In 46% of the cases, a scooter was involved. And the most stolen item? Mobile phones, in 65% of the situations. On the other hand, in only 13% of the robberies was a bladed weapon present.
These are quick and opportunistic robberies, where the victim is not selected far in advance. According to the police, anyone can be a victim, and this exacerbates the feeling of insecurity. The perpetrators usually wear their faces covered and flee quickly. Hence, the police's fight also involves controlling these vehicles. "Intercepting them is very complicated, and now we have defined a device for a specific target", states the police. Additionally, in many cases, these are young people who are not registered because they have never been arrested before and do not have a criminal record, which further complicates investigations. The Mossos plan to maintain this siege on violent robbery at least until the end of August, when all the data from the period will be analyzed.
