Police in Spain recorded a 26.35 percent increase in reported cases of violence against healthcare workers last year. Data shows that in the regions of Castile and León and the Canary Islands alone, a total of 47 such incidents were registered, with the majority being physical assaults. The National Police, cited in the media, warns that official figures are only the "tip of the iceberg," as many attacks go unreported. The problem affects hospital and healthcare center staff across the country, raising concerns among authorities and trade unions.
Drastic Increase in Number of Attacks
The number of officially registered police reports of attacks on medical personnel increased by over 26 percent in one year. The data indicates a clear escalation of violence in healthcare facilities, where over a hundred physical assaults occur.
Just the Tip of the Iceberg
National Police officers admit that official statistics do not reflect the full scale of the problem. Many healthcare workers do not report acts of aggression from patients or their families, meaning the actual number of incidents is much higher than police reports show.
Local Statistics from Regions
Detailed data from individual regions confirms the scale of the phenomenon. In 2025 alone, Castile and León registered 28 reports, and in the Canary Islands, 19 complaints regarding assaults on paramedics were filed over the past year, indicating the problem occurs in different parts of the country.
Mainly Physical Violence
Analysis of reported cases shows that the dominant form of aggression is direct physical attacks. These constitute the majority of the over one hundred recorded incidents, posing a direct threat to the safety and health of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff while performing their duties.
Attacks against medical personnel in Spain have recently become a serious and growing social problem. According to the latest police data, published by Spanish media on March 4, 2026, the number of officially reported attacks increased by 26.35 percent over the course of a year. The National Police, which collects these statistics, emphasizes, however, that the recorded cases are merely the "tip of the iceberg." Many healthcare workers, for various reasons, do not report acts of violence that occur in hospitals, clinics, or during ambulance interventions, which prevents a full assessment of the scale of the phenomenon. Detailed data from selected regions confirms the alarming trend. In the autonomous community of Castile and León, 28 reports of attacks on paramedics were recorded in 2025. Meanwhile, in the Canary Islands, during the reference period covering the past year, 19 such reports were filed. Combined, these two regions alone recorded 47 official cases, suggesting that the nationwide figure reaches into the hundreds. Analysis of the nature of the incidents indicates that the vast majority are physical attacks. Media, citing police reports, inform of "over a hundred physical attacks" within a year. This form of violence poses a direct threat to the lives and health of doctors, nurses, technicians, and paramedics. The problem of aggression against medical personnel is not new and is often seen as a symptom of broader tensions in the healthcare system, such as long waiting times, work overload, or underfunding. In many European countries, social campaigns and procedures aimed at protecting healthcare workers from violence have been conducted for years.The increase in reports may partly stem from greater legal awareness among workers and better reporting procedures by the institutions themselves. Nevertheless, the steady rise indicates a deepening of a dangerous phenomenon that affects staff morale, the work atmosphere, and may ultimately also lower the quality of medical services provided. Trade unions and organizations representing healthcare workers have long called for more effective legal and physical protective measures, including harsher penalties for perpetrators. The current police data may serve as an important argument in this debate and contribute to more decisive preventive and repressive actions by central and regional authorities.