Attacks
In Spain, underreporting of hate crimes remains an acute problem. This makes it difficult to get a complete picture. Experts estimate that most hate crimes go unreported and are therefore not included in official data. Since 2013, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has sent an official report containing official data on hate crimes to law enforcement agencies every year. This is an important step toward ensuring a higher level of reporting.
The total number of reported crimes has risen steadily since 2013, from 1,172 in 2013 to 1,706 in 2019. In 2018 . the total number of reported hate crimes was 1,598 (up from 1,419 in the previous year). In 2019, that number rose to 1,706. However, in 2020 the number of hate crimes went down: 1,401 offenses, of which 675 were investigated and 144 were convicted.
In terms of evolution by type of hate crime, anti-Semitism remains the lowest motive for crimes (9 in 2018 and 5 in 2019), while racism and xenophobia are among the highest (426 in 2018 and 515 in 2019). The number of religiously motivated crimes was 69 and 66 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. It should be emphasized that the category "Crimes against Roma" was included for the first time in 2019 (14 hate crimes were recorded), which was a positive and welcome step.
In addition to official statistics, some civil society organizations, such as SOS Racism or Movimiento Contra la Intolerancia, also collect data. This organization estimates that about 4,000 hate crimes and incidents take place in Spain each year.
Partisan violence incidents were numerous in Spain in 2018, 2019 and 2020. As explained above, the reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg, although there have been some improvements. Several NGOs report violent incidents and attacks (whether reported to the authorities or not). In 2018 and 2019, for example, there were 20 and 25 racist and xenophobic attacks on people (respectively) and 6 and 4 (also in the same years) based on anti-Muslim bias.
