Theft continues to be the star crime of large capitals like Barcelona. And it is on the surface and in that underground world that is suburban transport, the subway, through which one and a half million users travel every day. Travelers who are also victims susceptible to being carelessly robbed in one of the rush hour crowds. Crimes that in the first nine months of the year skyrocketed compared to the same period in 2022 with an increase of 47.3%, as reported on Monday by the radio station Ràdio Estel and later confirmed by this newspaper.
On that same radio station, inspector Eduard Múñoz, head of the Barcelona urban transport area of the Mossos d'Esquadra, assured that traveling by public transport is “safe.”
The police have groups that work exclusively on the underground, in coordination with the private security service hired by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), which manages a room where live images of practically every corner of the subway and the cars are received.
The crime figures are not good in 2023 in practically any type of crime. And although there are political leaders who insist that these are numbers that should be compared with those of 2019, compared to the previous year, the upward trend in both thefts and robberies with violence in the Barcelona metro is evident.
Until September, which is the last month with updated data, 10,094 thefts had been reported in the metro, compared to 6,852 in the same period last year. Every month this year, except April, closed with more than a thousand thefts, with February being the one with the most complaints for these careless thefts: 1,216.
Statistics are only part of the reality, but they do not explain everything that happens. And although the trend is a general increase, these are numbers that if distributed among the million and a half daily users, the result is reasonable. Abroad, up in the city, the increase in thefts is smaller, but also on the rise. The figures are from the first semester and were distributed at the last Security Meeting. Until June, the number of thefts in 2022 went from 42,772 to 50,116 this year, but still far from the almost 67,000 thefts reported in 2019.
The increase in violent robberies is smaller, but it also increases by 14%. Until September, 447 robberies with violence and intimidation were reported, and the majority of the incidents took place in the station itself, platforms, corridors, stairs or lobbies. Within the carriages there were a hundred violent robberies reported.
One of the tools that in recent years has proven most effective against this type of specialized thieves and repeat offenders are subway restraining orders. Precautionary measures that are achieved with the complicity of judges and prosecutors and especially elaborate and complex police reports.
