A SHOCKING new report has highlighted the growing scale of sexual violence in Malaga, with the province now recording one rape every two days.
According to official figures from Spain’s interior ministry, 40 rapes involving penetration were reported in Malaga during the first three months of 2026 – up from 36 during the same period last year.
That figure is almost seven times higher than a decade ago, with just six rapes recorded in the opening quarter of 2016.
The figures appear to have skyrocketed since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The number climbed sharply from seven in 2021 to 24 in 2022, with between 34 and 40 cases registered during every quarter from 2023 onwards.
In total, 174 crimes against ‘sexual freedom’ – including rape, sexual assault and harassment – were reported in Malaga during the first three months of 2026.
That represents a slight decrease from the 176 cases recorded during the same period in 2025.
According to the interior ministry, the sustained rise in rape cases is partly due to greater public awareness and a growing willingness among victims to report offences, helping to reduce the level of underreporting historically associated with sexual crimes.
Maria Carmen Gutierrez, a judge at Malaga’s Court for Violence Against Women, said many of the most serious cases are linked to the city’s rampant nightlife scene.
She warned that investigators are seeing increasing numbers of suspected cases involving chemical submission, where offenders exploit victims who are already intoxicated or spike drinks to impair their ability to resist.
“The victims are of all ages,” Gutierrez said, adding that many wake up with no memory of what happened and only realise they may have been sexually assaulted because they are in physical pain.
Legal experts are also warning of a growing number of cases involving minors, with prosecutors increasingly investigating alleged offenders who are themselves under the age of 18 and often attend the same school as their victims.
Of the 40 cases recorded between January and March this year, 18 took place in Malaga city, four in Marbella, three in Estepona and three in Fuengirola.
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Interesting. No curiosity to report the races or nationalities of the rapists. No reporting of whether or not the rapists or victims are tourists or citizens. No looking at whether or not the increase may be tied to increases in illegal immigration. Neither may be linked, but why not report that?
Hi Scott, this kind of granular data is not always freely published, police often withhold it for whatever reasons. That’s why it’s not reported.
Digital Ed
Thanks. Yes, the reporting here in Spain may not contain all details as in other countries. More likely politics than anything.