Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni called on 19 August for tougher penalties for illegal possession of firearms and drug trafficking following several recent shootings in the city. In his view, many of the incidents were linked to drug crime. He said there was great confidence in the work of the Mossos d'Esquadra and the Guardia Urbana, and that police were investigating every incident. Collboni was speaking during a visit to the Escola Bressol la Mar in the neighbourhood of Barceloneta.
The city council also pointed to measures already approved to monitor public spaces. Around 100 additional CCTV cameras are due to be installed this year in Barcelona including 30 in Anilla Olímpica, 11 at the Búnkers del Carmel and 19 in the Parque de la Pegaso, where a teenage boy had previously been shot dead. Collboni placed these steps in a broader context of security and social policy: for Barceloneta, he cited €46 million in investment by the Ayuntamiento to improve the residential environment and strengthen residents’ ties to the neighbourhood.
The security situation in the first half of 2026 provides the backdrop to the current debate. According to figures presented by the Junta Local de Seguridad on 20 July, recorded overall crime fell by around 11 per cent compared with the same period the previous year. At the same time, the number of homicides in Barcelona rose to nine, several of them linked to criminal networks. The authorities partly attribute this to firearms being more common at lower levels of the drug trade than they were a few years ago.
The tougher penalties sought by Collboni would require action by Spain’s national legislature; the city cannot introduce them on its own. The debate is therefore taking place on two fronts: short-term operational responses – investigations, police presence and technical surveillance – on the one hand, and changes to sentencing law on the other. While the city administration is advocating consistent prosecution and visible prevention, any legislative changes will be a matter for Madrid and will require a consensus capable of securing a majority.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).