Violent crime is surging across the Canary Islands, with intentional homicides, attempted murders, and sexual assaults all rising significantly in the first quarter of 2025, even as overall crime has fallen.
According to the latest crime statistics published by Spain’s Ministry of the Interior and cited by La Rázon, the islands recorded a 3.8 percent decrease in total offenses compared to the same period last year — but this masks troubling increases in the most serious categories.
Homicides on the Spanish archipelago rose by a staggering 400 percent, jumping from two cases in early 2024 to ten so far this year. Attempted homicides also nearly doubled, rising by 87.5 percent to 15 registered offenses. Sexual assaults involving penetration increased by 11.1 percent, reaching 60 cases in the first three months of 2025.
Drug trafficking also showed a steep rise, up 21.4 percent with 210 cases reported. These trends suggest a deteriorating security situation in specific areas, even as conventional crimes such as vehicle theft (down 14.6 percent) and robberies with force in homes and businesses (down 11.1 percent) continue to decline. Cybercrime likewise decreased by 10.9 percent, with 4,047 digital offenses recorded.
Nationally, Spain experienced a 2.8 percent drop in overall crime in the first quarter of the year. Homicides declined by 11.6 percent, though attempted murders rose by nearly 20 percent — mirroring the increase seen in the Canary Islands.
Crimes against property fell by 5.3 percent and remain the most common type of conventional offense, accounting for two out of every five crimes in the country.
However, the trend of increasing sexual violence is evident across Spain. Crimes against sexual freedom rose by 3.8 percent nationwide, with rapes up 7.6 percent compared to the first quarter of 2024. The interior ministry suggested that increased public awareness and reduced social stigma around reporting may be contributing factors.
It failed, however, to address the issue of mass immigration and the fact that foreign nationals are disproportionately represented in serious crime data across Western Europe, a pattern evident in recent crime stats published in Catalonia.
Although immigrants make up 17 percent of the population there, they account for 91 percent of rape convictions. More broadly, over half (50.48 percent) of the prison population in Catalonia comprises foreign nationals.
In February, Remix News reported how the number of homicides committed by immigrants has grown sharply across Spain. Ministry of the Interior data obtained by La Gaceta showed that foreign nationals were arrested or investigated for 137 homicides in 2023, up from 81 in 2013 — a 69 percent increase. In comparison, the total number of homicide cases nationwide rose from 311 to 399 in the same period, a 28 percent increase.
Despite these developments, the Spanish interior ministry insists the country reports one of the lowest conventional crime rates in the world, with 40.6 offenses per thousand inhabitants.
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