> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://barna.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Catalonia sees fewer weapon incidents, worse injuries - URL: https://barna.news/catalonia-sees-fewer-weapon-incidents/ - Published: 2026-10-17T07:35:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-17T07:35:02.000Z - Description: Mossos d'Esquadra figures reported by 3CatInfo show fewer incidents involving bladed weapons this year, while police warn that the injuries being inflicted are becoming more severe. - Author: Barna.News - Tags: crime Incidents involving bladed weapons in Catalonia have fallen from an average of 375 a month in 2025 to 320 recorded so far in 2026, according to figures reported by [3CatInfo](https://www.3cat.cat/3catinfo/mes-armes-blanques-al-carrer-baixen-lleument-els-incidents-pero-les-lesions-cada-cop-son-mes-greus/noticia/3433954/?ref=barna.news). Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police force, say the apparent reduction has not made the problem less serious because injuries are increasingly severe. For residents using public transport, attending nightlife venues or travelling around school areas, the figures mean police checks under Plan Daga, the Mossos operation against carrying bladed weapons, continue to focus on those settings. Police confiscate between 9,000 and 10,000 bladed weapons of all kinds each year on average, 3CatInfo reported on Saturday 17 October. Intendent Toni Rodríguez, a senior Mossos officer, said there is a greater presence of bladed weapons in public spaces and warned that their potential danger can produce fatal consequences. > "They think they need a bladed weapon when they go out on the street for a vague motivation, or one shaped by the idea that otherwise they will not be able to defend themselves from an abstract danger they have seen, heard about or perceived on social media," Rodríguez told 3CatInfo. --- ## Police checks target transport, nightlife and schools The Mossos intensified Plan Daga in 2024, increasing checks in leisure areas, on public transport and around schools. 3CatInfo attributed the modest fall in incidents largely to that police pressure. - In 2024, 33% of people arrested for carrying a bladed weapon had previous convictions for the same offence. - In 2025, the equivalent proportion fell to 16%. - Fights account for 52% of incidents involving bladed weapons, while robberies account for 20%. The data does not establish why individual people carry weapons, but the Mossos have identified a persistent risk of violence even as the recorded incident total has declined. The force has said the seriousness of resulting injuries is increasing. In Manresa, the capital of the Bages county, a man was stabbed to death on the final night of the Festa Major in early September. Two people under 18 were arrested and are being held in a youth justice centre under a closed detention order, which means they cannot leave the centre freely. --- ## Young adults account for 44% of reports People aged 18 to 30 made up 44% of those reported to authorities in Catalonia in 2025 for carrying a bladed weapon. The figure places young adults at the centre of the Mossos' concern, alongside the separate issue of violent youth groups in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Carles Feixa, professor of social anthropology at Pompeu Fabra University, told 3CatInfo that a section of young people has developed a “glamorisation” of bladed weapons. He said some see carrying one as a means of self-protection and of gaining status or power. > "The ability to show that they are somebody by displaying or concealing a weapon wrongly makes them feel that they have power," Feixa said. Feixa linked the issue partly to social media exposure. The Spanish Youth Institute's *Youth in Spain 2024* report found that 47% of young people had seen fights on YouTube or social networks, according to 3CatInfo. He said weapon carrying among some young people crosses social class and family-origin lines because social media is widely consumed. The researcher also cited difficult transitions from education into employment, stigma from neighbours, hate speech, and conflict in nightlife settings as factors that can leave some young people feeling vulnerable. ### Mossos preparing plan on violent youth groups Chief Commissioner Sílvia Catà has said violent youth groups, often referred to in the past as Latin gangs, have reappeared after Catalonia experienced a similar problem between 2003 and 2011\. Rodríguez said the current phenomenon is concentrated mainly in the metropolitan area. The Mossos are preparing a plan intended to prevent such groups from expanding and to stop more young people joining them. Police say violence and weapon possession can become part of belonging within some of these groups. --- *Reported by 3cat.cat, 3Cat, 3CatInfo Barcelona.* --- ### Related on Barna.News - [Gunshots Fired in Badalona's Llefià](https://barna.news/gunshots-fired-in-badalonas-llefia/) - [Two Men Arrested Over Violent Horta-Guinardó Robberies](https://barna.news/two-men-arrested-over-violent-horta/) - [Police arrest eight over Catalonia home burglaries](https://barna.news/police-arrest-eight-over-catalonia-home/) - [Fugitive wanted for murder arrested in Barcelona](https://barna.news/fugitive-wanted-for-murder-arrested-in/)