Police in Catalunya have dismantled a major counterfeit goods network, seizing more than €26 million worth of fake products in a series of summer raids.
Between April and August, the Guardia Civil and collaborating police forces carried out 51 operations against the so-called ‘top manta’, the illegal street-selling trade that lines many of the region’s tourist promenades. In total, authorities confiscated 139,000 fake items and detained two suspects, while opening investigations into a further 101 individuals.
The haul is more than triple last year’s figures, when 23 operations uncovered 43,673 counterfeit goods valued at €12.5 million. According to the Spanish government’s delegate in Catalunya, Carlos Prieto, the crackdown sends a clear message to organised crime groups: ‘Catalunya will not be a hub for criminal networks.’ He warned that every counterfeit item sold undercuts legitimate businesses, destroys jobs and undermines industrial property rights.
Police targeted three main areas: street-level vendors, inspections of bazaar-style shops, and court-backed investigations dismantling manufacturing and distribution chains. Operations were spread across the four Catalan provinces, including tourist hotspots such as Sitges, Platja d’Aro, Roses and La Jonquera.
Authorities stressed that the real culprits are the mafias that supply and coerce street vendors, not the vendors themselves. The Guardia Civil’s regional commander urged the public to ‘break the myth of the poor immigrant’ and recognise the orchestrated role of criminal organisations behind the trade.
The government has vowed to maintain pressure beyond the summer season, signalling that police deployments and inspections will continue into the autumn.
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