Overall, rates of crime in Spain are relatively low in comparison to other European countries, with the notable exception of robberies. [1] In 2022 it was listed as number two out of 35 states in Europe with regard to the number of police-recorded robberies relative to population size, [1] although in 2020 it had a lower homicide rate than the European Union average. [2]
Instances of robbery are particularly widespread. As of 2020, Spain had the second highest recorded instances of theft in the EU. [3] One of the often cited reasons for this is a national law that states that theft of anything worth less than €400 ($459) is not a crime, but a misdemeanor. Additionally offenses for theft of anything valued less than 400 euro are not accumulated to result in more serious charges. [4]
In 2020, Spain had a homicide rate of 0.64 per 100,000 population, making it the 6th lowest among 30 European countries [2] and lower than the European Union average of 0.9. There were a total of 298 homicides in Spain in 2020. [5] [1] Many terrorist attacks have occurred in Spain, the most deadly of which was the 2004 Madrid train bombings.
Asturias, in Northern Spain, has one of the countries' lowest crime rates. With a population of 1 million people, it registered only 1 homicide during 2021. [6] Its biggest city, Gijón, with more than 250,000 inhabitants, has not registered a homicide since February 2020 (as of June 2022), before COVID-19 lockdown. [7] [8]
Spain is the principal route of entry of drugs and narcotics into the European Union. Indeed, about half of the cocaine found by law enforcement agencies in Europe is found by Spanish police. [9] As of 2005, Spain had the highest rate of cocaine users in the world. [9]
Cocaine usage in Spain is high by world standards. [10] Spain is a major transit point for cocaine entering Europe. [10] After arrival in Spain, much of the cocaine is then trafficked to other countries. [10] In 2005, over 50% of the cocaine found by police in Europe was found by Spanish police. [10] The so-called Galician mafia is the main trafficker of cocaine into Spain and to European countries such as the United Kingdom.
The US Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs advised travellers in 2011 that Spain had a "moderate rate of crime". [11] Street crimes against tourists occur in the principal tourist areas. [11] Madrid and Barcelona, in particular, report incidents of "pick-pocketing, mugging, and occasional violent attacks". [11] In Madrid, incidents have been reported in "all major tourist areas, including the area near the Prado Museum, near Atocha train station, in Retiro Park, in areas of old Madrid including near the Royal Palace, and in Plaza Mayor". [11] In Barcelona, the largest number of incidents reported also occurred in major tourist areas. [11]
In 2019, the Embassy of the United States in Spain issued a warning to its nationals against the increasing violent crime in Barcelona. The embassy highlighted crimes, which were recently committed in the most popular tourist places, such as, the theft of jewelry, money and watches. These offenses have physically harmed the victims in some cases. [12]
Spain has specific a gender-based violence law with its own courts. In 20 years they have dealt with 2 million complaints and convicted 700,000 people.
Since 2003 the Spanish government has been counting gender violence murders, by December 2022 they had reached 1,183 murders. [13] With an annual number between 43 (2021) and 76 (2008) [14] murders a year.
Crime statistics for Spain are published annually by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística. [15] Different agencies of Spain and the European Union conduct analysis of the crime data in Spain. Statistics show Spain is one of the European countries with the lowest crime rate, according to a 2005 Gallup Europe research study. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] The rate of misdemeanours and crimes in Spain was 46 per 1,000 people in 2009. [21] In 2013 Spain had one of the lowest crime rates in Europe. [22]
The economy of Spain is a highly developed social market economy. It is the world's 15th largest by nominal GDP and the sixth-largest in Europe. Spain is a member of the European Union and the eurozone, as well as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization. In 2023, Spain was the 18th-largest exporter in the world. Meanwhile, in 2022, Spain was the 15th-largest importer in the world. Spain is listed 27th in the United Nations Human Development Index and 36th in GDP per capita by the World Bank. Some main areas of economic activity are the automotive industry, medical technology, chemicals, shipbuilding, tourism and the textile industry. Among OECD members, Spain has a highly efficient and strong social security system, which comprises roughly 23% of GDP.
Tourism in Spain is a major contributor to national economic life, with foreign and domestic tourism contributing to 12.3% of Spain's GDP. Ever since the 1960s and 1970s, the country has been a popular destination for summer holidays, especially with large numbers of tourists from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, the Benelux, and the United States, among others. Accordingly, Spain's foreign tourist industry has grown into the second-biggest in the world.
Crime in Canada is generally considered low overall. Under the Canadian constitution, the power to establish criminal law & rules of investigation is vested in the federal Parliament. The provinces share responsibility for law enforcement, and while the power to prosecute criminal offences is assigned to the federal government, responsibility for prosecutions is delegated to the provinces for most types of criminal offences. Laws and sentencing guidelines are uniform throughout the country, but provinces vary in their level of enforcement.
Crime in Western Australia is tackled by the Western Australia Police and the Western Australian legal system.
Immigration to Spain increased significantly in the beginning of the 21st century. In 1998, immigrants accounted for 1.6% of the population, and by 2009, that number had risen to over 12%. Until 2014, the numbers were decreasing due to the economic crisis, but since 2015, immigration to Spain has increased again, especially after 2021.
Luis Milla Aspas is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and a football manager.
Crime in Portugal is combatted by a host of government agencies including the Ministry of Internal Administration, Ministry of Justice, Maritime Authority System, Economic and Food Safety Authority, and the Informations System of the Portuguese Republic, among others. Portugal has been a member of the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO), commonly known as INTERPOL, since 1930.
Crime in Italy, though low compared to other developed countries, is present in various forms throughout the nation. Italy is notorious for its organized crime groups, which are present worldwide and collectively referred to as the Mafia. Resultantly, financial crimes like corruption, extortion, and theft are the most common type of illicit activity in the country. Violent crimes are very rare in Italy evidenced by its homicide rate of 0.51 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021, which is the lowest in Europe aside from micro states like Vatican City and San Marino, and one of the lowest in the world.
Crime in Paraguay has increased in recent years with criminals often targeting those thought to be wealthy. Although most crime in Paraguay is nonviolent, there has been an increase in the use of weapons and there have been incidents where extreme violence has been used.
Giles E.H. Tremlett is a historian, author and journalist based in Madrid, Spain.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ that took place in Spain.
Colombia has a high crime rate due to being a center for the cultivation and trafficking of cocaine. The Colombian conflict began in the mid-1960s and is a low-intensity conflict between Colombian governments, paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and left-wing guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN), fighting each other to increase their influence in Colombian territory. Two of the most important international actors that have contributed to the Colombian conflict are multinational companies and the United States.
The anti-austerity movement in Spain, also referred to as the 15-M Movement, and the Indignados Movement, was a series of protests, demonstrations, and occupations against austerity policies in Spain that began around the local and regional elections of 2011 and 2012. Beginning on 15 May 2011, many of the subsequent demonstrations spread through various social networks such as Real Democracy NOW and Youth Without a Future.
Crime in Peru has steadily decreased since the 2010s and into the 2020s. Peru's main indicators of crime are the homicide rate and the victimization rate; the victimization rate dropped from forty percent in 2011 to under twenty five percent in 2020.
On the afternoon of 17 August 2017, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into pedestrians on La Rambla street in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 others, one of whom died 10 days later on 27 August. Abouyaaqoub fled the attack on foot, then killed another person in order to steal the victim's car to make his escape.
Spain–Sweden relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Sweden has an embassy in Madrid, a consulate general in Barcelona. Spain has an embassy in Stockholm, as well as an Economic and Social Department and another Tourism Department in the same city. Both countries are full members of Council of Europe, NATO, and of the European Union. Spain strongly supported Sweden's NATO membership during the latter's accession process.
Más País (MP), or More Country, was a political party in Spain. It was an electoral platform formed by Íñigo Errejón around Más Madrid in order to contest the November 2019 general election.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has resulted in 13,980,340 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 121,852 deaths.
Squatting in Spain refers to the occupation of unused or derelict buildings or land without the permission of the owner. In Francoist Spain migrant workers lived in slums on the periphery of cities. During the Spanish transition to democracy, residential squatting occurred in Spanish cities such as Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia and Zaragoza. From the 1980s onwards a new generation of squatters set up self-managed social centres which hosted events and campaigns. The 1995 Criminal Code among other things criminalised squatting, but failed to stop it. Social centres exist across the country and in Barcelona and Madrid in particular. In the Basque Country they are known as gaztetxes.
Crime in Latvia is relatively low, by global standards, especially compared to previous years, when it was named the "crime capital of Europe" by Forbes in 2008. The homicide rate in Latvia was 4.9 per 100,000 people in 2020, a sharp drop from 10 cases per 100,000 people in 2000, and has been steadily decreasing. Although Latvia'a homicide rate is high by European Union standards,it is below the world average of 6.2 per 100.000. The United States Department of State has assessed Latvia's security rating as "medium", with a moderate crime rate. In recent times, crime has been increasing, particularly due to many Latvians stranded because of the COVID-19 pandemic returning to Latvia and choosing to commit crime. According to Interpol, Latvia is considered an attractive place for regional and organized criminals involved in drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking, or smuggling. According to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, a third of all women in Latvia have suffered some form of sexual violence or rape, while men are subjected to violence outside the family.