Knife attacks surge in Barcelona, prompting defense shift

Machete attacks in Barcelona: the economics of insecurity

In just 48 hours, five people were stabbed and one killed in Madrid, while Barcelona recorded a surge in machete attacks that led the Generalitat (Catalan government) to ask companies to convert towards the defense sector. The question is not only whether violence is rising, but how much it is costing the Catalan economy.

The figures of white violence
Circulating data are not official, but the succession of incidents is hard to ignore: a fight in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat left several seriously injured, another shooting resulted in one death, and in central Barcelona, nocturnal machete attacks in Sant Antoni are recurring with a frequency residents describe as unbearable. A concrete figure: in Madrid, five stabbings were registered in a single weekend, including one minor who was murdered. Comparisons between cities have become a weapon thrown by those who minimize the problem and those who consider it an epidemic.

From hugs to submachine guns
The institutional response has taken a turn. The Generalitat has urged companies to reconvert towards the defense industry, a move many interpret as tacit recognition that security has deteriorated. In parallel, police forces have begun patrolling with submachine guns, a measure unseen since the 2017 terrorist attacks. The contrast with previous discourse—exemplified by the father of a victim from La Rambla hugging a Muslim—is stark.

The unaccounted economic cost
Although there are no official figures, the economic impact is felt: nightlife tourism in areas like Sant Antoni suffers, shops close earlier, and real estate investment in affected neighborhoods slows down. The debate over whether the Generalitat is prioritizing the arms industry as a new economic engine reveals a paradox: insecurity may be reshaping the Catalan productive fabric.

The discussion has not reached a consensus on whether the violence is sporadic or structural, but institutional decisions point to the problem worsening. Meanwhile, Barcelona's streets reveal a painful fact: the sense that the State has lost its monopoly on violence.

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