FOREIGN nationals account for 51 per cent of daily arrests in Spain, according to new police data.

Internal police figures obtained by The Objective show that on Wednesday, March 18, 506 Spaniards were arrested compared with 527 foreign nationals.

Madrid recorded the highest number of arrests. Of the 250 arrests made in the capital, 160 involved foreign nationals – representing 64 per cent of the total.

Andalucia reported the second-highest number of arrests, with 228 in total. 

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However, the pattern here was reversed: 155 Spaniards were arrested compared with 73 foreign nationals, meaning foreigners accounted for 32 per cent of arrests.

Foreign nationals made up 55 per cent of arrests in Valencia, while in the Balearic Islands they accounted for 64 per cent of the total.

In Catalunya, the proportion of foreign arrests was the highest: 28 of the 39 arrests involved foreign nationals, or 72 per cent.

Barcelona, the region’s capital, records even higher arrest rates among foreign nationals for certain categories of crime.

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Data released by the Catalan police shows that foreign nationals account for 91 per cent of theft arrests and 84 per cent of arrests for violent robbery.

This pattern is also reflected in Spain’s prison population, where the share of foreign inmates has been steadily increasing.

Foreign nationals now account for roughly one in three prisoners – 20,524 out of a total of 61,858.

In Catalunya, foreign nationals outnumber Spaniards in custody.

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According to the Catalan Department of Justice, foreign inmates represent about 52 per cent of the prison population.

While in the capital, 42 per cent of prisoners are non-nationals, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.

While the arrest data represents a single day, its consistency with prison figures points to an ongoing trend rather than a one-off.

With foreign nationals accounting for roughly 20 per cent of Spain’s population, the figures indicate a higher representation in both arrests and prison populations.

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