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Diario Euskadi

Crime in Euskadi Decreases by 3.3% in the First Quarter of the Year

The Ertzaintza and local police forces in the Basque Country recorded 34,664 offenses up to March 2026, showing a reduction compared to the same period last year.

Generic image of a close-up of a police badge on a uniform, with a blurred background of a city street at dusk, reflecting emergency lights.
IA

Generic image of a close-up of a police badge on a uniform, with a blurred background of a city street at dusk, reflecting emergency lights.

The crime rate in Euskadi has seen a 3.3% reduction during the first quarter of 2026, with a total of 34,664 offenses recorded by the Ertzaintza and local police forces, compared to the same period in the previous year.

The Basque Government's Department of Security has for the first time published data on criminal offenses jointly counted by the Ertzaintza and local police, with 25,669 and 8,995 offenses respectively.
Nearly three-quarters of the offenses (%74) were in-person crimes, a 2.1% decrease from the first quarter of last year. The remaining 26% were cybercrimes, totaling 7,233 cases.
Among in-person crimes, the most common were those against property and the socioeconomic order, accounting for 19,532 criminal offenses. Within this category, thefts were the most numerous, with 10,755 offenses, showing a decrease of over 5%.
Basque police forces also recorded 3,304 burglaries and 3,103 robberies with violence or intimidation, which also experienced a slight decrease compared to the same period last year. Fraud accounts for 20% of all offenses. In-person fraud slightly increased from 701 to 749, while cyber-fraud decreased by 8.9%, although nearly 9 out of 10 crimes committed in cyberspace are of this type.
Among the most serious crimes, four homicides were recorded during the first quarter of 2026, one more than in the first three months of 2025. Additionally, 2,811 assault offenses and 257 crimes against sexual freedom were registered.
In the first quarter of 2026, 3,325 individuals were arrested in Euskadi and 10,467 were investigated. Of these, 88% and 75.8% respectively were men. Furthermore, 39.6% of all arrested and investigated individuals are from the autonomous community.
By territory, Álava registered 5,811 criminal offenses, with a crime rate of 17.21 cases per 1,000 inhabitants; Bizkaia, 18,459, with a rate of 15.97; and Gipuzkoa, 10,394, with a rate of 14.34 cases. Regarding the most populated cities, Bilbao has the highest crime rate per 1,000 inhabitants, at 23.84; followed by Donostia (20.44); Gasteiz (19.28); Irun (19.09); Barakaldo (17.75) and Getxo (11).

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