Racist Hate Crimes In Spain Increased By 21% In 2019

Hate crimes, in general, saw an increase of 6.8% in Spain in 2019 compared to the year before, but those motivated by racism and xenophobia saw the biggest jump and had risen by 21%, compared to 2018.

The data comes from a report put together by the Evolution of Hate Crimes within the Ministry of Interior. This report is compiled annually and its aim is to monitor this type of crime to be able to deal with it better.

In recent years, the government has tried to break down the “anti-gypsy” (anti-gitanismo) sentiment, describing it as any action motivated by hatred and prejudice towards the “gitano” people and their environment. This was thought would help promote visibility among certain marginalized sectors of the community. However, incidents against the gitano community still made up a significant part of the registered hate crimes.

Two areas where criminal incidents had also significantly increased were sexual orientation and gender identity (8.6%) and disability (4%). The list also included antisemitism, religious beliefs, ideology, poverty, illness, and ageism.