Overview

• Lehendakari Imanol Pradales inaugurated the Basque Security Forum on June 30 in Bilbao with a call for open debate and a shared security diagnosis.
• Pradales emphasized that security must be worked on daily and declared it a social priority to protect citizens’ freedom of movement.
• The forum’s opening sessions brought together territorial deputies, the presidents of the Basque Parliament and TSJPV, and the mayors of Bilbao and San Sebastián.
• Participants aim to devise an integral, multi-agency plan addressing rising crime trends and strengthening preventive measures across the region.
• The initiative responds to a sharp increase in crime in early 2025 and a doubling of repeat-offender arrests in Euskadi since 2019.