Brussels and Barcelona They lead the list of European cities with the most forceful robberies in Europe per 100,000 inhabitants. This reflects it a Eurostat report updated in December 2023 and captured in a graph by Landgeist, a website specialized in creating maps. This list highlights the presence of four Spanish cities, three Belgian ones, two German ones and one Portuguese one.
Specifically, Barcelona, which has a rate of 326 robberies per 100,000 inhabitants, is only surpassed by Brussels, with 360 complaints for this type of crime. Both stand out above the rest, since the 'bronze' in this classification goes to Melilla, with 239 robberies per 100,000 inhabitants.
Liège It is the fourth in contention with 237 robberies and is placed behind Ceutawith 233. The sixth classified is Madrid, quite far from the 'top 5' with a rate of 180 thefts, exactly half of those in Brussels. Close this blacklist Charleroi (Belgium, 164), Lisbon (Portugal, 154), Bremerhaven (Germany, 153) and Flensburg (136).
In the map, France and the countries that make up the British Isles are not dissected by area because their respective Home Affairs ministries present global figures for the country, but they also show a serious problem with robberies. In fact, the map reflects that in addition to Belgium and Spain, the United Kingdom, along with Wales, has the highest theft rates, closely followed by Sweden, France, Portugal and Luxembourg.
According to Landgeist, these seven countries stand out above the rest, given that The eighth, which is Italy (38), has a theft rate that is practically half that of Sweden (70), seventh 'classified'. Although Spain fares poorly in this classification, the Eurostat report reflects that the robbery rate has clearly reduced, a phenomenon that has also occurred in Belgium, France and Portugal.
Eurostat does not count robberies as robberies, that is, robberies that have occurred without violence. Neither do robberies of establishments or organized assaults, such as bank robberies.
Barcelona reflects increasing numbers
According to him latest crime report, which reflects crimes by province until the third quarter of 2023, Barcelona is more unsafe than the previous year. Thefts, violent robberies, homicides and sexual assaults have skyrocketed. In fact, the number of criminal offenses registered in the province has gone from 235,819 to 251,927, 6.8% more.
Specifically, the number of homicides has grown by 37% after going from 27 in 2022 to 37 in 2023. In addition, sexual assaults have gone from 646 to 891, reflecting a growth that is close to 38%. On the other hand, robberies with violence have increased by 3.1% (from 16,546 to 17,053) and thefts have skyrocketed by 8.6%, going from 98,677 to 107,125.
Drug trafficking stands out among the increases in crime (9.1% more) and vehicle theft, which has grown by 18.1% (from 4,455 to 5,262). In addition, attempted murders have also grown a lot: from 100 to 128 in just one year (+28%).
Regarding Madrid, the crime balance indicates that The capital has fewer crimes (-5,761) despite having 1.1 million more inhabitants than the province of Barcelona. Furthermore, the Community of Madrid has improved its data (-1.6%), with a reduction in most crimes. There are only three notable increases: the number of attempted homicides (+42.1%, from 95 to 135), the number of kidnappings (+112.5% from 8 to 17) and drug trafficking (+ 14.9%, from 2,236 to 2,570).
