Map of Hitmen in Spain: From Marbella to Madrid and Barcelona

The Costa del Sol (with Marbella as the epicenter), the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, Barcelona, Madrid, and the Valencian Community (especially the province of Alicante) concentrated in 2025 a large number of the most severe incidents, with recurring patterns: quick executions, firearms, and victims almost always linked to drug trafficking. The choice of these criminals is no coincidence. "In large cities, you can find everything, just like in any other economic sector. Barcelona and Madrid are the two areas where the most 'debt collection offices' operate: there are more people, more businesses, and more debts to settle," police sources reveal. Barcelona is one of the favorite cities for mafiosos wanted in their countries to take refuge. In July, the Eixample district was the scene of a battle between the Serbian Kavac and Skaljari clans that ended with the murder of Filip Knezevic, a member of the former. He was taking refuge in Barcelona after being sought by the justice system in his country. "Both Barcelona and Madrid are attractive even to hitmen. Some come from Colombia or Guatemala for a couple of days, but others stay for a week with all expenses paid and have the incentive to visit the Bernabéu or the Camp Nou," point out sources from the prosecutor's office. The proximity to Madrid is also key to why experts include Toledo in this map. The province, turned into one of the biggest marijuana production hubs in Spain, also serves as a base of operations for criminal gangs that operate in the capital but seek a discreet refuge outside the community. The port of Valencia records the highest entries of cocaine in all of Spain and is the third in Europe (after Antwerp and Rotterdam). Around this logistical drug center, criminal organizations dedicated to drug trafficking are established, making Valencia one of the strongholds. In this regard, on the Valencian coast, 'branches' of foreign gangs have opened, and even bosses of these gangs have established second residences. Especially the Alicante coast has recorded the most severe cases. Caner Koçer, leader of the Turkish Dalton gang, was shot dead in early August on a street in Torrevieja. It was revenge for a shootout registered two weeks earlier between this clan and their rivals, the Caspers, in Estepona. Meanwhile, Irish mafias have moved their feuds to Orihuela. During 2025, at least two executions were carried out (an Irishman and a Briton) and two attempts in which an Irishman was shot in the head but survived, and an Englishman who ended up in the ICU after receiving several gunshots. Writer Nacho Carretero pointed out in this newspaper that "Marbella is like the UN of organized crime": it offers a strategic location and good connections to move people, merchandise, and money quickly, while the anonymity of tourism and the luxury ecosystem facilitates camouflage and money laundering. The major mafias from all over the planet maintain at least one detachment there, causing frictions that spread throughout the Costa del Sol. A place where, according to the Ministry of the Interior, between January and March, there had already been 6 murders and 14 attempted murders. Chosen as a residence by many of the major drug lords, executions are frequent there. It was the case of two well-known Scottish mafiosos from the Lyons clan (Glasgow), who were executed in May in a pub in Fuengirola after watching the Champions League final, by a hitman hired by their enemies, the Daniels Clan. The Malaga coast is also the place where a Swedish hitman, a minor, killed a well-known singer from his country by contract, and where the police arrested two other minors (aged 16 and 17 respectively) as they were about to commit separate murders. Turned into the major drug gateway of southern Spain, the Guadalquivir has been receiving tons of hashish daily from Morocco for years. And, more recently, large shipments of cocaine. "This has led Colombian organizations to establish themselves there and now traffic both substances," explain police officers in the area. Such intense activity generates constant clashes in the surrounding towns. Drug turnovers have skyrocketed, settlements are constant, and authorities seize war weapons from these criminal organizations. The provinces of Seville, Cadiz, and even Huelva have seen an increase in this type of criminality.