Saint John's Eve in Catalonia: 26 arrested for gender-based violence
Seventy injured people have been attended to, 18% less than a year ago, and there have been a thousand services from the Firefighters
BarcelonaSaint John's Eve has filled the streets with bonfires, music, and fireworks, leaving typical scenes of this traditional festival of the Catalan Countries. In the police report in Barcelona, the celebration passed off "intensely, but relatively calmly," in the words of the third deputy mayor, Albert Batlle, who, accompanied by Mayor Jaume Collboni, went to the Bogatell breakwaters to explain the night's incidents and check that the city's beaches had opened clean and ready for the earliest swimmers.
Some 90,000 people celebrated the shortest night of the year on Barcelona's beaches, which once again became the epicenter of the celebration. But after the party, the cleaning crews woke up and cleared out those who were still on the beach to leave the sand and public facilities spotless. They collected up to 70 tons of waste.
In the city during the night, there were eleven arrests, one of them for stabbing a man in the back during a fight on Mar Bella beach, 32 interventions by the Medical Emergency Service, and 17 people transferred to hospitals, none of whom are at risk of death. "With 90,000 people on the beaches, all sorts of incidents can happen, but we are satisfied with how it went," stated Batlle, who thanked the work of the Guàrdia Urbana, the Mossos d'Esquadra, and the port police during the night.
Regarding healthcare in Catalonia, there has been a 18% decrease compared to a year ago: 69 people were treated for pathologies related to the celebration, mostly for traffic accidents, with thirty injured and twenty intoxications. There were also four treated for assaults, four for burns, and two for drownings.
Regarding police activity for specific problems of the celebration, the Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested 39 people in Catalonia, mostly for robberies. And, separately, 26 for gender-based violence (out of a total of 130 arrests). Likewise, the 112 telephone received calls for 10,260 incidents, 16% less than in 2025. Incidents related to the celebration have remained stable, while calls to 061 have increased by 13.2%. As for the Fire Department, there were 1,407 calls between 8:00 PM and 8:00 AM this morning.
Until 8 a.m., the Generalitat Firefighters have received 1,407 calls related to the Sant Joan celebration, but in no case has there been any serious personal injury. The majority of the calls have been for urban fires, mostly containers (669) and vegetation fires (550). The Medical Emergency System (SEM) has transferred three people in mild condition to the hospital due to a house fire in Badalona. This morning, about twenty units are working on a forest fire in La Sénia which is already stabilized.
The 112 emergency telephone number received 10,131 calls related to the festival by 8 a.m. this Sant Joan day, which generated 5,113 incidents. By regions, the ones that generated the most were Barcelonès, with 3,321, and Vallès Occidental, with 1,660. Barcelona, with 2,113, and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, with 781, were the cities from which the most calls were made.
Fires in buildings
Among the most notable actions by the Firefighters there is a fire in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat at 01:07 AM, where clothes and a boiler burned on the balcony of a fourth-floor apartment on Carrer de l'Alegria. The Firefighters deployed 7 units and extinguished the fire, which affected the home with smoke. The fire did not spread to other balconies nor did it affect any other home, and there were no people affected.
At 03:04 AM, on Avinguda Alfons XIII in Badalona, seven units were dispatched due to a fire on the first-floor balcony of an eight-story building with three apartments per floor. Many residents left the building on their own, although some residents who remained inside also had to be evacuated. The Medical Emergency System assisted ten people, three of whom were transferred to the Badalona Municipal Hospital in a mild condition. An unconscious dog was also evacuated from the affected apartment and ultimately died. At 03:48 AM, the fire was declared extinguished, and the entire building was inspected and ventilated. Shortly after 05:30 AM, residents were able to return to their homes.
In Castellbisbal, the Firefighters were alerted at 02:03 AM to a fire in the Comte de Sert urbanization affecting a semi-detached single-family house. The fire was located at the back of the garage, in a basement. All residents were able to exit to the outside, and no one was injured.
In Terrassa, a fire burned a vehicle in the garage of a single-family house on Carrer del Doctor Salvà (alert at 05:04 AM). Using the aerial ladder, a person on the balcony was rescued via the facade. One person was attended to by SEM, which dispatched three ambulances, but did not require transfer. At 06:17 AM, the fire, which affected the garage and the ground floor, was declared extinguished.
The Firefighters are working on a forest vegetation fire on the border of Catalonia with the Valencian Community, in the municipality of La Sénia. The fire alert was received at 06:54 AM, and the Firefighters are working with about twenty units, including two bomber helicopters. The fire is stabilized.
During this night, work has also been done in the search for a person in La Ràpita. The Firefighters received the alert at 11:47 PM from a person who had not returned after taking a route from Mas de Mulet to Mata-rodona. Finally, contact has been made with the lost person, who was in the Barranc del Llop area. They did not require medical assistance and were accompanied on the way back.