Badalona Reports Drop in Crime 2025

Badalona City Hall said on May 18 that crime in the city fell in 2025, citing data from Spain’s Interior Ministry and presenting the figures as evidence that its security policies were producing results. The municipality said Badalona ranked 18th in Catalonia in crimes per 1,000 inhabitants, with an average of 64.36. The announcement was published by the council a day before local media outlet Metrópoli Abierta reported the same ranking and linked it to the city’s recent security push. Spain’s Interior Ministry has published quarterly crime balance reports for 2025, including the first quarter and the first half of the year. ### Which 2025 crime figures has Badalona actually published? The Badalona council said on May 18 that crime in the city had declined and that the municipality was now among the safer large cities in Catalonia. The city’s own March 2025 statement, based on Interior Ministry figures for the first quarter, said crime in Badalona fell 3.4% from a year earlier. The Interior Ministry’s first-quarter 2025 national report said total recorded crime in Spain fell 2.8% year over year in January through March. Its second-quarter 2025 report, covering January through June, said total recorded crime nationwide fell 0.9% from the same period of 2024. The ministry reports are national compilations and do not, in the material reviewed, provide the Badalona ranking in the search excerpts, but the city and Metrópoli Abierta both attributed the local ranking to ministry data. ### What does the “18th in Catalonia” claim refer to? Metrópoli Abierta reported on May 18 that Badalona placed 18th in Catalonia after a drop in crime in 2025. The outlet said the city’s average stood at 64.36 crimes per 1,000 inhabitants and that this put it below Barcelona, L’Hospitalet, Esplugues, Sant Adrià and El Prat de Llobregat on that measure. (badalona.cat) The Badalona municipal website carried a news item the same day under the headline that the city had reduced crime and positioned itself among Catalonia’s safest large cities. The accessible search snippet does not reproduce the full text, but it confirms the date and the council’s framing of the announcement. ### Which officials are tying the drop to security policy? (metropoliabierta.elespanol.com) Xavier García Albiol, Badalona’s mayor, has repeatedly linked public safety data to the city’s policing strategy. In an April 24 municipal statement on expanding the Guardia Urbana, Albiol said security data in Badalona were improving, though he added that the city was not satisfied while crimes still occurred. The same April 24 statement said the city had approved 50 new Guardia Urbana positions. (badalona.cat) The council said the increase would reinforce neighborhood policing and permanent services. Albiol also announced the upcoming tender for 650 security cameras across the city to strengthen prevention and crime monitoring. ### What other security measures has the city highlighted this year? On March 19, Badalona’s Local Security Board met with Catalonia’s interior minister, Núria Parlon, and senior officials from the Guardia Urbana, Mossos d’Esquadra, National Police and Civil Guard, according to Metrópoli Abierta. The report said Albiol cited 700 illegal occupations in 2024 and said 50% had been prevented. (badalona.cat) It also said container burnings fell 23%. Parlon said at that meeting that robbery with force in public space had fallen 6%, business robberies 11.8% and thefts 3%, according to the same report. She also said more Mossos officers would be assigned to the city for the summer period, although she did not give a number. (metropoliabierta.elespanol.com) ### What comes next in Badalona’s security plan? April 24 is the clearest dated next step in the material reviewed. That day, the city approved the expansion of the local police force by 50 positions and said it would move ahead with a tender for 650 security cameras. (metropoliabierta.elespanol.com) May 21 is also a scheduled municipal date on the city website, which lists an extraordinary council session. The council’s security rollout, including the additional Guardia Urbana posts and the camera tender announced by Albiol, remains the main identified follow-through tied to the crime figures published on May 18. (badalona.cat) (badalona.cat)