In the first half of this year, police in the Spanish city of Barcelona claim that 76 per cent of all their arrests were foreigners, with many linked to drug trafficking, theft and violent robberies.
Barcelona’s municipal police, the Guàrdia Urbana de Barcelona, reported 2,939 arrests in the first half of this year, with just 692 of those arrested having Spanish nationality, while 2,247 of the arrests were foreigners.
The majority of those arrested by the Guàrdia Urbana were involved in crimes such as theft, drug trafficking, violent robberies and domestic violence, while others were subject to arrest warrants and search warrants, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports.
Barcelona councillor Eva Parera, a member of the conservative Valents party, commented on the figures saying they proved right statements made by her party on foreigners involved in crime.
“A few months ago we denounced that about 80 per cent of crimes committed in Barcelona were produced by foreigners, an evident problem of people who are not integrated into the city and violent gangs that come illegally and are committing crimes such as drug sales,” she said and noted she had been labelled racist by the government team of Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau over her statements.
“In Valents there is none of this, in Valents there are people who explain things as they really are, exposing them in the public debate because this is our job as public officials and responsible opposition in the Barcelona City Council,” Parera added.
Barcelona’s statistics reflect a common trend through many European urban centres, such as the French capital of Paris, where even President Emmanuel Macron admitted that around half of the delinquency in the city could be attributed to foreigners saying, “Yes, when we look at delinquency in Paris, we can see that half of the delinquency comes from foreigners in an irregular situation.”
In Germany, the federal government stated earlier this year that the proportion of foreigners involved in sexual offence cases had substantially increased since 2000 from 35 per cent of all cases to over 42 per cent in 2022.
Similar statistics have been reported in Italy where a 2020 report claimed that as many as half of all sex crimes in the country were committed by foreign nationals.