Spain

Is Spain safe to visit?

Yes. Spain had 0.69 homicides per 100,000Homicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary people in 2023, and its roads are among the safer in Europe, with 36 deaths per million people in 2025 against an EU average of 43. We score it 85, just ahead of Italy and France. The risks to plan for are theft in the big cities and a climate that now brings extreme heat, wildfires and flash floods.

Pickpockets and street scams

Theft is the crime visitors meet. In Barcelona, police recorded 87,321 thefts in 2025, about 239 a day, even though that was the lowest level in a decade. The worst places are La Rambla and the Liceu and Catalunya metro stations, the queues around the Sagrada Família and Barceloneta beach, where bags left on the sand disappear quickly. Our Barcelona page goes street by street.

Madrid has the same problem on a smaller scale: Puerta del Sol, Gran Vía, the Sunday Rastro flea market and crowded metro carriages. Seville, Málaga and the Costa del Sol resorts see thefts at bus stations, beaches and outdoor café tables.

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary lists the tricks used across the country:

• Thieves working in teams with a distraction at airports and car hire desks.
• Fake plain-clothes police who ask to inspect your wallet. Real officers ask for ID, never money.
• "Highway pirates" who flag down foreign or hire cars, claiming a flat tyre or damage, while a partner empties the car.
• Phones and watches snatched from café tables and wrists in nightlife streets.

Terrorism and unrest

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says terrorists are likely to try to attack Spain, a stronger warning than for Italy or Portugal, and the US rates Spain Level 2 for terrorism and unrest. The deadliest recent attack was in August 2017, when a van drove into crowds on La Rambla in Barcelona. In January 2023, a man with a machete killed a church sacristan in Algeciras, Cádiz province. Spain ranks 27th on the 2026 Global Peace IndexGlobal Peace IndexAn annual ranking of 163 countries by how peaceful they are, based on conflict, crime, militarisation and political instability.More in the glossary, ahead of Italy and the UK.

Demonstrations are common, including protests against mass tourism in Barcelona, Málaga and the Balearic and Canary Islands. They are almost always peaceful. The US advises reconsidering travel to Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa, because of unrest.

Heat, fire and flood

Natural hazards are where Spain's risk has grown most. On 29 October 2024, a DANA storm brought torrential rain and flash floods to the towns south of Valencia. The court investigating the disaster raised the official death toll to 233 in September 2026. Autumn storms of this kind can strike anywhere along the Mediterranean coast; if AEMET issues a red warning, stay out of underpasses, car parks and dry riverbeds.

The 2025 wildfire season was the worst since 1994, with about 401,000 hectares burned according to EU satellite data, more than any other EU country. Most of it burned in August in Galicia, Castilla y León and Extremadura, and four people died in the fires that month. Causing a wildfire is a crime in Spain even if it is an accident, and barbecues in forest areas can bring heavy fines.

Heat is the hazard every summer visitor faces. Seville, Córdoba and Madrid regularly pass 40°C in July and August. Older travellers, children and anyone hiking in the Sierra Nevada or the Canary Islands' mountains need to plan around the hottest hours.

Roads, beaches and nightlife

Spanish motorways are modern and roads are comparatively safe, but drink-driving checks are frequent and fines are paid on the spot. Using a phone at the wheel is illegal even when parked on the hard shoulder.

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says people drown at Spanish beaches and pools every year, and some island beaches have strong currents; follow the flags. In Magaluf, Playa de Palma and San Antonio, local laws ban happy hours and pub crawls, and the FCDO warns of serious, sometimes fatal, falls from balconies and of drink spiking with GHB.

How to stay safe in Spain

• Use a zipped bag worn in front on La Rambla, the Barcelona and Madrid metros and at beaches; never leave a phone on a café table.
• If a "police officer" asks for your wallet, refuse and offer to walk to a police station.
• In a hire car, stop only at lit service stations and keep luggage out of sight.
• Check AEMET for heat, fire and rain warnings, and avoid walking in the midday heat in summer.
• Buy your own drinks and keep them in sight in nightlife areas.
• Call 112 for any emergency.

How we scored it

Violent crime (95) and road safety (90) are Spain's strengths. Petty crime (60) is the weakest factor, driven by organised theft in Barcelona and Madrid, and natural hazards (74) reflect the deadly 2024 Valencia floods and record wildfires. Conflict (80) sits below Italy's because the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary rates a terrorist attack as likely. Neighbouring Portugal has less theft but more road deaths.