Barcelona’s main police union, SIP-FEPOL, is calling for the city’s Guardia Urbana and other local Catalan police forces to be allowed long-barrelled firearms. The union says the request comes as crime and security risks remain higher in Barcelona than in Madrid, and after the Spanish National Police moved to add advanced submachine guns for its citizen security patrols in the capital.

SIP-FEPOL, the majority union for the Guardia Urbana, has launched a campaign under the slogan “Misma realidad, más riesgo, menos medios” (Same reality, more risk, fewer means). In a statement sent to Guardia Urbana staff, the union says official Interior Ministry data shows local officers do not have enough protection for the risks they face on the street. It argues that while other police forces are upgrading equipment, Barcelona and other Catalan forces are still limited in what they can carry.

The union bases its case on two figures from the Interior Ministry’s Crime Balance report. Barcelona recorded 48 crimes per 1,000 residents in 2024, compared with 31 in Madrid. SIP-FEPOL also points to jihadism arrests in 2025, saying Catalonia had 33 in total, 10 of them in Barcelona, while Madrid had 13. The union says those numbers show a higher level of risk for officers and residents in the Catalan capital.

SIP-FEPOL also says the current rules create a gap inside Catalonia itself. It says Mossos d’Esquadra citizen security patrols do not generally carry long-barrelled firearms in their daily vehicles, while local police such as the Guardia Urbana are limited to standard pistols. The union says officers are increasingly facing habitual criminals and organised gangs who may carry ballistic vests and automatic weapons, and it links that to concerns about the spread of firearms in the Barcelona metropolitan area.

To change that, the union has asked for an immediate reform of Catalonia’s Local Police Law 16/91 and a change to the state’s Weapons Regulation. It says those changes would allow the Guardia Urbana to use submachine guns or assault rifles in strategic locations or during crisis situations. For more local coverage, see our community and sport pages.

Originally published by Metrópoli Abierta - Urban Life. Read original article.