Another side of insecurity in Catalonia: criminals prey on the most vulnerable

According to the data, repeat offending is the main factor behind the rise in crime in Catalonia. Repeat offenders have quadrupled in recent years, and last year 637 criminals were arrested on 6,933 occasions. These figures reflect a serious problem of security and public order, the consequences of which are paid by citizens.

One of the most worrying things is, precisely, that violence is increasingly targeting the most vulnerable. At E-Notícies we already reported a few days ago that there was a wave of robberies targeting elderly people. It seems these are not isolated cases, but a trend affecting the most vulnerable groups such as minors and the elderly.

This very week, Metrópoli reported on a wave of robberies targeting elderly people in Badalona. According to the outlet, thieves choose vulnerable victims to steal valuable items from them. They usually operate on scooters using the snatch-and-grab strategy, ripping gold chains from their victims in the street or even inside establishments.

Several robberies targeting elderly people

This is the case of the robbery that took place on June 29 in a bar, where the thief pulled the chain from an elderly man and tried to escape. In this case, customers prevented him from fleeing. That same week, a thief snatched a chain from an elderly man in the middle of the street.

Last weekend, an elderly man was assaulted using the same modus operandi. Images of the robbery went viral on social media, causing great outrage. Social media have been filled with messages from people who are outraged and concerned about this situation.

These robberies cause a lot of concern among residents, who have started to raise the alarm with posters in the most problematic neighborhoods. In Lloreda, for example, posters have appeared warning that "numerous gold chain robberies are taking place." In other places, such as Bellvitge, people are organizing against robberies targeting the elderly and minors.

The phenomenon is spreading across Catalonia

This is not a problem limited only to Badalona. At the end of May, a 91-year-old woman was seriously injured when she was assaulted by a woman who stole her watch. A month ago, a man of the same age and with reduced mobility had his watch stolen in broad daylight in Barcelona. In recent months, Mossos dismantled several gangs of thieves who were robbing elderly people.

In the case of Bellvitge, residents reported that a gang of foreign minors was committing frequent robberies and assaults. The thieves roam around on scooters looking for a suitable victim to rob. They look for women, minors, and elderly people who will not resist so they can rob them in the street or in building entrances.

Residents, outraged, organized into citizen patrols and protested against insecurity. The phenomenon is also growing in Tarragona. In recent weeks, there have been snatch-and-grab robberies in towns such as Torredembarra and Tarragona itself.