Off-duty officers surprise thieves stealing a luxury watch at the Port of Barcelona

BarcelonaWatches are often a top target for thieves, especially specialized pickpockets who can tell an original Rolex from a fake just by looking at it. In fact, watches are the fifth most stolen item in Barcelona. Robberies with violence and intimidation of these accessories –usually because a tug on the strap is already considered violence– represent 8.8% of the total registered in the city. Last year, there were more than a thousand in the Catalan capital, almost three every day. A recent robbery perfectly demonstrates the modus operandi used by thieves.

Normally, watch thieves look for tourist areas to operate in. The victims are also usually tourists. The robbery that the ARA has become aware of is located at the Moll d'Espanya, near the Aquarium, the beaches, and the port. It happened last Friday in broad daylight, at 12:40 PM. Two young men identified a man wearing an expensive watch on his wrist and assaulted him. According to a first estimate, the watch was valued at no less than 100,000 euros.

This robbery did occur, but the two young men (they were 24 and 35 years old) were not aware that they were surrounded by police. In that area, there was an off-duty Mossos d'Esquadra officer and another police officer from the Guàrdia Urbana de Tarragona, also off-duty. Both officers played a key role until the arrival of the Mossos officers from Ciutat Vella, who proceeded to arrest the two young men and also recovered the 100,000 euro watch.

Repeat offenders

During the arrest, a struggle occurred in which an agent was injured. The victim of the robbery also suffered minor injuries. The two detainees were old acquaintances of the police, as the younger one, aged 24, has nine arrests. The older one has six. In fact, chronic reoffending is a phenomenon strictly linked to property crimes and watch robberies.

In Barcelona in 2025, 470 active chronic reoffenders were detected. These individuals were arrested 4,001 times and committed 9,726 criminal offenses, mainly petty theft and robberies with violence or intimidation. The five most persistent active offenders accumulated 197 arrests in just one year.