The criminality recorded during 2020, the year of explosion of the pandemic, historical lows in the province of Malaga, with a drop of 16.7% and a total of 66,679 criminal offenses, compared to 80,056 in 2019. In addition to the pressure exerted by the security forces, the state of alarm decreed on 14 March by the central government. But not even these measures imposed to halt the spread of the virus – the case of home confinement, the closing of bars and shops and the curfew – stopped the penetrative sexual assault nor the Intentional homicides and murders tentatively. Regarding the latter, in just one year there was an increase of more than 90 percent. The exercise closed with 42 violent episodes, 20 more than in 2019, according to the balance of crime published every three months by the Ministry of the Interior.
In one of the shootings, which occurred last October, a 50-year-old Briton was shot twice in the face in Marbella and had to be evacuated in critical condition to the Costa del Sol hospital. The police operation resulted in the arrest of five people for their alleged relationship with the events. It was him third incident with a firearm that occurred in that last week. In the previous one, another individual in his 30s was injured when he was shot in the neck while driving through the capital. The investigation then pointed out that drug trafficking could be related to the events.
The intentional homicides and completed murders did register a significant drop during 2020. There were 7, unlike 2019, which will be remembered as a black year, when Malaga registered the highest number of crimes in the last decade, with 23 homicides due to clashes between gangs. Drug trafficking, which extended its criminal network throughout Andalusia, showed its most dramatic side in the province. And this made the Prosecutor’s Office alert in its annual report of the “alarming increase in violent actions.” According to the Public Ministry, these were “homicides related to drug trafficking due to settling accounts and drug robberies between gangs, often carried out, for a price, by specialized violent groups, sometimes of foreign origin.”
On the other hand, although the balance of the Ministry of the Interior reflects a fall of 17.5% in crimes against sexual freedom and indemnity, the penetrative sexual assault yes they have registered a strong growth, 42.9%, and 60 confirmed cases. One of them dates back to last summer. In August, the National Police reported the arrest of a 51-year-old man for an alleged crime of sexual abuse of a woman who attended a job interview for an aesthetic center in Malaga and who was deceived by taking him into the back room of the premises with the intention of explaining the conditions of the position. A month earlier, two 20-year-olds were admitted to prison as alleged perpetrators of the rape suffered by an 18-year-old girl in a downtown portal.
Except for the drug trafficking, attempted homicides and sexual offenses, the rest of illicit crimes fell in a generalized way during the past year in the province. The greatest decreases corresponded to robberies with violence (-30%) and in homes (-25.8), thefts (-37.67%) and vehicle thefts (-24.8). In the Malaga capital, the pandemic has also led to a significant drop in crime, of almost 18%. There were 6,331 thefts, practically half the number in 2019, and 818 investigations for robberies with force in homes, establishments and other facilities. Completed sexual assaults grew by 75% and drug trafficking actions by almost 10%.
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