The alert was issued regarding the risk of sexual assault in Spain. The article explains why; the rate of sexual assault is no greater in Spain than in other European countries (and far lower than the US), but it is treated differently by Spanish law, making it much less likely that offenders will be punished.
https://www.fodors.com/news/news/u-s-security-warning-issued-for-travelers-to-spain
Read this
In the instance of a 14-year old girl who was gang-raped by five men, a Barcelona court convicted the men last year of the lesser crime of sexual abuse because the girl was unconscious and they determined that violence and intimidation were not used. Spain’s definition allows rapists to receive lesser sentences (sometimes only half of what they would receive for a sexual assault conviction) and places victims in a tough position of providing evidence of violence or intimidation.
That is ridiculous!
Yes unfortunately we do have a problem of this in Spain, I fully recognize this, due to local antiquated laws that enable these crimes. The worst of it is that there is a good portion of the population that does not recognize this as a major problem and think everything is just fine and dandy in sunny Spain.
Another highly publicized rape case that occurred at the San Fermin festivities (the Running of the Bulls) in 2016. Some of the perpetrators were members of our national Gendarmerie (La Guardia Civil) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Manada_rape_case
In Barcelona specifically there has been a significant increase in crime (both violent and non-violent) these past 2-3 years. One simply does not feel as safe at night or on the metro as a few years ago. This only happened a few months ago near Barcelona - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50257922
Yes, it is disturbing, and I believe that is the basis of the security alert. The acquittal of those and others who used “knock-out” drugs makes it all the more likely that they will be used by other potential offenders. So the alert includes specific warnings about maintaining control of one’s beverage in bars.
The risk for tourists would be heavy drinking and then stumbling back to your Air bnb late at night, especially through unfamiliar neighborhoods, those kind of things would be the main risks. Remember Spain is one of the most popular study abroad destinations for university students, especially from the USA. For many USA College students it's the first time they can legally drink.
I was not aware of this, however I'm remembering a couple of years ago a family member was walking the Camino de Santiago-solo though she did group up with some folks-and we were hearing that robberies and assaults were pretty common along certain stretches. I wonder how much the weak laws had/have to do with that.
There has been some discussion as to whether the warning was out of context, comparing overall risk in Spain to other places, etc.
But I think you have to consider the purpose of the State Department warnings. They are there to present risk to the American Traveler. In this case, the warning appears to be prompted by:
The average Citizen in the region likely has little concern, many travelers probably have none, but a segment does seem to be affected. They obviously felt that a specific segment of the people they are assigned to assist had an increased risk that justified a warning. Worth noting, warnings are issued to inform, not to ward off visitors. If there were significant risk, bans and other measures would be taken.
Agree 100% with Paul, I'm a Spaniard and I do not take offence to this security alert, as I know they are just trying to shine a light on an (important) issue, to inform rather than dissuade.
