After the recent events that have taken place mainly in nightlife areas, there is one issue that is making the front pages of the media: bladed weapons on the streets of the Basque Country.
Although it is not a new phenomenon, the apparent upturn in this issue has created a social alarm that should be contrasted with objective data.
Taking as an example the period between November 2021 and October 2022, 648 criminal offences have been recorded in the Basque Country involving the use of a knife, to which must be added 1078 administrative offences involving the carrying of a weapon. Events in the field of Domestic Violence/Gender Violence and in private homes are excluded.
The 1,078 administrative proceedings initiated in this area throughout the Basque Country, which represents an average of 3 per day, only serve to highlight the risk posed by the presence of bladed weapons on the streets, as they can lead to particularly serious crimes, such as homicides, either completed or attempted, and injuries.
The most numerous crimes committed with this type of weapon are robberies with violence and/or intimidation (313), followed by serious and less serious injuries (158), threats (131), attempted or completed homicides (27), attacks on a police officer (13) and sexual assaults (6).
In the Basque Country there are an average of 54 crimes and 90 administrative offences related to bladed weapons per month, with February, May and June being the months that stand out the most, all exceeding 164 incidents (crimes + offences).
With regard to the place of the offences, 84% (1446) took place on public roads and other outdoor spaces.
As for the profile of the perpetrators, in the case of crimes, the profile is that of a male (97%) and aged between 16 and 25 (46%). As for administrative offences, the majority are committed by males (94%) and under 25 years of age (37%).
BREAKDOWN BY TERRITORY
If we make a breakdown by each Historical Territory, Bizkaia is the one with the highest number of criminal offences (crimes + administrative offences) (985), followed by Gipuzkoa (540) and Araba (201). These data should be framed within the demographic framework, with Bizkaia having the largest population (49%), followed by Gipuzkoa (33%) and finally Araba (18%).
In Bizkaia, Bilbao and its urban area account for 73% of the offences committed in this Historical Territory.
In the Territory of Araba, the problem is focused on Vitoria-Gasteiz, where 89% (153) of the incidents occur.
In Gipuzkoa, the use of bladed weapons is mainly concentrated in Donostia-San Sebastian and Irun, which together account for 50% of all incidents in the Territory.