In a context of growing concern for public security, official data for 2025 in the Basque Country reveal an alarming trend in the composition of crime. For the first time, the Ertzaintza has published a complete report with a breakdown by nationality of the persons investigated and arrested, revealing strong figures on the participation of foreigners in different crimes. According to information released and published this Thursday, foreigners have a significantly overrepresented presence in several types of crimes, especially those of the most serious nature. One of the most shocking data concerns penetrative sexual assaults, classified as rape: almost seven out of ten detainees (67.61%) are foreigners, despite the fact that this group represents only 10.6% of the total population of the autonomous
community.The request for these data was made at the parliamentary seat, requiring a detailed breakdown by type of crime —including homicides, thefts, sexual assaults, crimes with knives and domestic violence—as well as the origin of the persons involved. The Regional Executive confirmed that this is the first annual series complete with this level of detail, which allows us to measure the phenomenon with greater precision
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In terms of arrests, 9,222 arrests were made, of which 5,654 were foreigners, equivalent to 61.31%.
The breakdown by origin of foreign detainees shows a heterogeneous distribution: 3,223 are from African countries, 1,603 from America and 676 from Europe. The rest correspond to Asia (121), Oceania (1) and unspecified cases (1). The report does not provide greater qualitative contextualization of these figures.
