Basque Country: 7 out of 10 of those arrested for rape in 2025 are immigrants

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 general terms, the Ertzaintza registered in 2025 a total of 32,615 people investigated, of whom 13,874 are of foreign origin, representing 42.54% of the total.

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.

In the specific area of crimes against sexual freedom, 157 people were investigated for penetrative sexual assault, of whom 88 were foreigners (56.05%).

In terms of arrests, there were 71 arrests, of which 48 were made by people without Spanish nationality, reaching the above-mentioned 67.61%.

Another critical focus is the crime of theft. During the year under review, 7,839 people were investigated, of whom 4,063 were foreigners, representing approximately 51% of the total.

In terms of arrests, there were 513 arrests, of which 413 were immigrants, or about 80%.

These data, coming from official sources, reopen the debate on the relationship between immigration and crime, as well as on the effectiveness of security and migration control policies promoted by the central government. Meanwhile, Sánchez's Executive continues to avoid a clear statement in the face of figures that, due to their magnitude, can no longer be ignored

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