INTOLERANT: Group warns hate crimes in Spain are rising

A TOTAL of 107 hate crimes were committed in the Valencia Region in 2018, 18 per cent of the Spanish total and the highest figure of any autonomous community.

A report from the Movement against Intolerance found a total of 602 hate crimes were committed in Spain last year. Hate crimes refer to assaults on people motivated by their race, religion, gender or sexuality.

The group said thousands more incidents took place but they were not documented because prejudice in itself is not a criminal offence.

“Freedom of expression is not freedom of aggression,” the group said.

Valencia was followed by Cataluña with 80 hate crimes, Andalucia with 70 and the Madrid Region with 68.

The Movement against Intolerance warned attacks motivated by racism and intolerance were on the rise. Islamophobia and anti-Semitism also rose during 2018, the group added.

Hate crime laws passed in Spain in 2011 were insufficient to tackle the problem, the Movement against Intolerance said.