What is the public security situation in Spain?

In recent years, a large number of immigrants from North Africa, Central and South America and Eastern European countries first sneaked into Spain through various channels, and then moved to other EU countries with Spain as the bridgehead, or illegally stayed in Spain, becoming "illegal immigrants" without legal residence documents, making a living by doing illegal labor or stealing, robbing and drug trafficking. Moreover, due to the lack of police force in Spain, the lack of deterrent legal sanctions and the difficulty of repatriation, the public security in Spain has deteriorated sharply. Public security in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia and other big cities deteriorated rapidly, and robbery cases occurred frequently. Most gangsters take foreign tourists as their primary target, and the victims are especially tour groups and self-help tourists carrying huge amounts of cash.

The cities with the highest crime rate and the most rampant robbery groups in Spain are Madrid, Barcelona and Seville. Criminals usually wait for opportunities to commit crimes near tourist attractions in Madrid, such as Lichi Park, Atocha Railway Station, Sun Gate, Main Square, Catalonia Parliament Avenue, Prado Art Museum, Queen Sofia National Art Center Museum, Columbus Square, Plaza Espa? a and El Rastero, as well as Barcelona Nassan Station, Gothic District and Catalonia Square. The places where foreigners are most likely to be stolen or robbed are tourist attractions, squares, airports, stations (trains, subways, buses), carriages, restaurants and entertainment places.

The modus operandi of criminals is mostly that several gangsters (usually about 3 to 6 people) take advantage of the unprepared opportunity of the parties to attack them in the following ways:

Hiding in the stairwell in front of a small hotel, waiting for a chance to rob.

In the street, in front of the subway station, in front of the restaurant and other places, you should deliberately push first.

Pretending to be a tourist, asking for directions with a map in his hand, or taking the opportunity to steal the property in the luggage under the guise of helping with the luggage.

Dress up as a plainclothes policeman and make excuses.

Pretend to offer assistance on the grounds that the clothes are stained.

After deliberately puncturing the tire, he took the opportunity to steal the luggage while assisting in the replacement.

On the pretext of harassing, distracting the victim's attention, or forcibly pushing him down at the entrance and exit of the subway, or even pinching the victim's neck behind his back to make him unconscious, and then his accomplices rob him again or rob him directly with a knife.

Be careful not to leave valuables in the car after parking. People often break windows and steal things.

In recent years, the Spanish economy has fallen into a serious recession. In order to reduce the fiscal deficit and activate the labor market, the government has implemented severe measures, including labor law reform, freezing pension increases, and cutting social welfare and education expenditures, which have caused many people to rebound, and protest rallies can be heard from time to time. Most of these gatherings are peaceful, but occasionally the scenes get out of control.

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