Recorded crime fell in both Figueres and Roses in the first half of this year, according to new figures from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. However, drug trafficking offences went up in both towns, and several violent crime categories rose across the province of Girona.
The ministry's statistics compare the first six months of the year with the same period of 2025. Figueres, the capital of the Alt Empordà, registered 1,843 criminal offences, a drop of 8.6%. Roses recorded 788, a fall of 20%.
The data brings together reports from all four police forces working in the area: the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalonia's regional police), local police forces, the Policia Nacional and the Guàrdia Civil. The ministry publishes separate figures only for municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, along with a total for each province.
The Catalan government will spend €16.2 million on the first phase of a new rail freight station in Vilamalla. The project is part of a wider plan to move more of Catalonia's goods off the roads and onto trains.
The announcement came in a busy week for rail freight in the Alt Empordà. Days earlier, a Figueres-based advisory body called for faster progress on two major rail projects in the county.
Four new freight stations by 2031
Sílvia Paneque, the Catalan minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, presented the plan after Tuesday's meeting of the Executive Council, the weekly cabinet meeting of the Generalitat (the Catalan government).
Roses will host the eighth edition of its Craft Beer and Music Fair from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October, with five independent breweries, live bands and DJ sessions over three days.
The event mixes beer tastings with concerts. It also offers a popular lunch on the final day.
Five breweries, three from the Alt Empordà
Five craft brewers will pour their beers at this year's fair. Three are based in the Alt Empordà, the county that includes Roses, Figueres and Castelló d'Empúries. These are Cervesa de Roses, from the host town, Cervesa No T'enfadis from Figueres and Cervesa Cadaqués from the coastal village of the same name.
The gardens of Figueres' former prison will officially open to the public on Saturday 3 October, with a ceremony starting at 5pm.
Figueres City Council (the Ajuntament) announced the date. It is organising a public event to mark the end of the works on the site, and residents are invited to attend.
The project has turned the grounds of the old prison into a park. Alongside the green space, the site now includes a new children's play area, a basketball court and table tennis facilities.
Walls and fences come down
One of the biggest changes on the site is the removal of barriers. Fences have been taken away, and part of the existing wall has been demolished. This opens up a space that had long been closed off from the surrounding streets.
The Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police force, arrested the owner of a travel agency in L'Escala on Wednesday. She is under investigation for fraud, and police believe the scheme is worth more than €2 million.
Officers say close to 400 people were affected. Some paid for holidays that never existed. Others learned partway through their trip that their stay had not been fully paid for and that they still owed money.
Jordi Casanovas is a deputy inspector and head of the central economic crime area of the Mossos' criminal investigation division. He said the woman had no civil liability insurance and used the money she took from customers to pay off debts.
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