article_detail

Behind every conviction statistic is a victim, and the figures published this week by Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE) make for sobering reading. The number of people convicted with a final sentence for crimes against sexual freedom rose by 14% in 2025, reaching 5,115 nationally compared to 4,486 the previous year. It is the highest figure since the register began.

 

One of the most striking findings is the age profile of offenders. Of the total convicted, 584 were under 18, meaning one in every ten people convicted of a sexual offence in Spain last year was a minor. The type of crime that saw the sharpest percentage rise was rape of victims aged 16 and over committed by minors, up 244.4% on the previous year. These are convictions rather than reported incidents, and the absolute numbers remain relatively small, but the direction of travel is concerning.

 

Among adult offenders, 4,531 people were convicted, a 15.1% increase on 2024, with men accounting for 80% of all adult convictions across all crime types. The age group with the highest conviction rate was 21 to 30 year olds, at 14.4 per 1,000 inhabitants. Sexual assaults against victims aged 16 and over rose by 26.5%, while sexual assaults against children under 16 rose by 26.9%. Harassment convictions among adults increased by 31.4%.

 

In Murcia, the figures reached a record high. A total of 163 people were convicted in the region for sexual offences in 2025, up 9.4% on the previous year and the highest figure in the entire historical series going back to 2017, when just 88 such convictions were recorded.

 

The overall picture for serious crime in Murcia also showed a notable increase: 57 convictions for violent crimes were recorded last year, up from 31 the previous year, including 13 murder convictions. Overall adult convictions in the region fell by 3.81% to 10,598, and Murcia's adult conviction rate of 11.9 per 1,000 inhabitants sits slightly above the national average of 11.1.

 

On youth crime, the overall number of minors convicted nationally fell by 1.8% to 13,245. Murcia recorded a minor crime rate of 7.8 per 1,000 inhabitants aged 14 to 17, the third lowest in the country, well below the national average of 11.3. A total of 481 minors were convicted in the region, up 14.7% on the previous year, of whom a dozen were convicted of sexual offences, three fewer than the year before.

 

Regionally, the highest adult conviction rates were in Ceuta, Melilla and the Balearic Islands. Murcia sits in the middle of the national table.

 

The INE data reflects convictions recorded through the courts and does not capture the full extent of sexual violence, much of which goes unreported.