A MAN was shot dead on a Barcelona street on Wednesday close to the Policia Nacional station while events in the Catalan capital are dominated by Pope Leo’s visit.
The broad daylight execution happened on Calle Balmes at around 9.50am- a busy city centre area consisting of shops and offices.
A Policia Nacional officer and a witness tried to chase the killer, who fled along Via Augusta.
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The gun and a bullet was found in the vicinity of the shooting.
Catalunya’s regional police, the Mossos d’Esquadra are in charge of the investigation.
Several officers have been combing the area and are checking through multiple security cameras to see if the perpetrator can be identified.
Statements are also being taken from eye witnesses.
It is believed that a single shot was fired at point-blank range at the victim.
The El Mundo newspaper quoted police sources as saying that the execution could have been down to a settling of scores.
This afternoon, Pope Leo is scheduled to make a tour of the city in his open-top ‘popemobile’ with the route at one stage being a kilometre away from the crime scene.
It’s the second deadly shooting in Barcelona within four days, after a man died on Sunday evening inside a block of flats on Calle Mineria.
There have been at least 30 shootings in the city so far this,year- up 45% on the same period in 2025.
Police sources told El Mundo that the increase is down to mafias and gangs linked to drug trafficking.
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