New Year's Eve saw 27 arrests for gender-based violence, three times as many as a year ago.

BarcelonaNew Year's Eve celebrations resulted in 117 arrests, 27 of them for gender-based violence offenses, 46 related to property crimes, 10 for assault, one for sexual offenses, and 33 for other incidents. During last year's festivities, 10 people were arrested for gender-based violence out of a total of 75. Civil Protection, for its part, reported that during New Year's Eve, and up until 9:00 a.m. today, Thursday, January 1st, the emergency hotline received 4,358 incidents related to the New Year's celebrations. This figure represents an 8% increase compared to last year's celebrations. The calls came mainly from the Barcelonès (2,852), Vallès Occidental (578), and Baix Llobregat (415) regions, the most populated areas, and were mostly made between 2:00 and 6:00 AM. In addition, the Catalan Fire Service responded to around 100 incidents, about 10 of them to extinguish fires in homes, with no serious injuries reported.

The majority of calls (28%) were for medical assistance; followed by alerts for assaults (12.4%), antisocial behavior (9%), security problems (6%), fires and rescues; robberies (6%), among other reasons.

The time frame with the most calls for incidents related to New Year's Eve celebrations was between 2:00 and 6:00 AM. The hour with the most calls was 6:00 AM, with 571 calls, followed by 3:00 AM, with 552 calls.

Fatal accident

On the other hand, a man died this past New Year's Eve after the car he was traveling in ran off the road near Malgrat de Mar and caught fire. Two other men sustained minor injuries in the accident. With this death, Catalonia's traffic fatalities on intercity roads in 2025 reached 144, according to data from the Catalan Traffic Service.

A light and music show

Around 115,000 people welcomed the year 2026 in Barcelona at the music, pyrotechnics and drone show which was organized this New Year's Eve on Maria Cristina Avenue, on Montjuïc mountain, according to the Barcelona City Council. Besides the chimes, one of the most unique and anticipated moments of the night was the activation of the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, after several years of inactivity due to drought and the subsequent remodeling works of the hydraulic system.

The interplay of water has been one of the elements integrated into the visual narrative of the show, with choreography created especially for the occasion and designed for its symbiosis with drones, music, and light. This year's show has been completely revamped, the city council indicates, with the participation of the Catalan musician Marc Parrotwho devised a show that blended a past of traditional rhythms and songs with a future marked by electronic music and new sounds.

The show was designed by the French company Groupe F, with musical and creative direction by Parrot. The French group, specialists in large-scale productions, returned to Barcelona, ​​as in previous years, for a show that mixed music, drones, audiovisual technology, and pyrotechnics. The performance was divided into four parts, inspired by the four elements: air, earth, water, and fire.