Sexual assaults are up, but crime is down slightly in Catalonia.

BarcelonaCrime rates across Catalonia are down slightly, but sexual assault and other crimes linked to sexual freedom are up. This is a snapshot of the Catalan crime map for the first six months of 2025, according to the crime report released Tuesday by the Ministry of the Interior. In Catalonia, more than 50 crimes are reported every hour, and the vast majority—as has been the case in recent years—are thefts and cyber fraud: the two categories together account for almost 50% of all detected crimes. Overall, crime rates are down 4.5% compared to the first half of 2024, with notable declines in homicides (from 44 last year to 24 this year) and burglaries, which fell 15%, but drug trafficking offenses rose 8.4%.

However, rapes are particularly on the rise, rising by 22%, from 741 sexual assaults with penetration in the first half of last year to 904 in the same period in 2025. These data, which only reflect 180 days of the year, do not take into account the summer. Likewise, other types of crimes related to sexual freedoms also increased by 16.1%. Police sources point out that this increase is also linked to the awareness-raising work carried out in recent years, which encourages women to report. They also specify that these crimes involve a long lag time—the time it takes for the victim to report the crime after the crime has occurred—and that, therefore, 2025 includes incidents that, although reported this year, do not necessarily mean they actually took place. Catalonia is the territory in Spain where the most rapes are recorded, although Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, Navarra, and Melilla have seen larger percentage increases.

By district

Regarding the capital cities, Barcelona—following the trend of recent crime reports—records a 6.6% drop in crimes. Property crimes are particularly down, but crimes related to sexual orientation are on the rise. Crime in Girona also fell by 5%, in Tarragona by 6%, and in Lleida by 2.2%. Among Barcelona cities—the Ministry's crime report only includes urban centers with over 20,000 inhabitants—the drop in crime is notable in Manlleu, where it fell by 31% in two months. Crimes also fell in Les Franqueses del Vallès (-23.2%), Terrassa (-17.2%), and Ripollet (-17.1%). On the downside are the cities of Vilanova i la Geltrú, Esplugues de Llobregat, and Hospitalet de Llobregat, where crime has risen more than 10% in six months.

In the Girona region, crime has also increased by 23.1% in Banyoles, 21.8% in Salt, 10% in Palafrugell, and 21% in Roses. In contrast, Lloret de Mar leads the ranking in positive terms, with 11.5% fewer criminal offenses. In the Tarragona region, most cities have recorded significant declines: Amposta (-10.9%), Reus (-13.4%), Salou (-16.8%), El Vendrell (-11.3%), and Vila-seca (-17.3%).