Two shootings a week in Catalonia: firearm incidents up 30%
Firearm incidents increased by 30%, with 29 people injured by gunshot
Catalonia records average of two weekly shootings in past year
Catalonia registered 93 shootings over the past year, equivalent to an average of two firearm incidents per week, according to official figures to which La Vanguardia has had access. In 2024, 69 such incidents were counted, representing a 30% increase in just one year.
The figure comes from police intelligence analysis carried out by the Mossos d'Esquadra and other security forces. Each incident is recorded and broken down in order to guide decisions on prevention and security matters.
Of the 93 shootings last year, 29 resulted in gunshot injuries and seven ended in fatalities. In the remaining 57 cases, the shots caused no direct physical consequences. In most of those cases, shots were fired into the air with an intimidatory character, a practice that is familiar to residents of neighbourhoods such as La Mina. Last week one such incident occurred in that same area: several projectiles entered through windows of homes of families unconnected to the conflict and struck furniture inside.
Despite the overall volume of incidents, the number of deaths has remained stable for years and stands among the lowest of major European cities, according to the same data.
So far this year, four people have died from gunshot wounds in Catalonia. The latest victim was a 43-year-old man of Spanish nationality, shot in the back on Saturday night in the Marina neighbourhood of Barcelona. He died practically on the spot. According to available information, the man had a criminal record for drug trafficking.
The 93 shootings counted correspond exclusively to incidents linked to organised crime. Excluded are suicides involving firearms, accidents affecting hunters, shots fired by security agents with their standard-issue weapons, and incidents related to gender-based violence.
If all these cases are combined, the total number of firearm incidents recorded in Catalonia last year rises to 626.
Source: La Vanguardia