A lightning bolt struck a catamaran anchored in Cabo de la Huerta in Alicante’s Sidi region, scaring the four British tourists onboard.

The ship was outfitted with a lightning rod on its mast, and all four crew members were uninjured. Maritime Rescue aided the crew and took them and the ship to Alicante port yesterday afternoon, Wednesday May 14th.

The lightning hit had an impact on the vessel’s electronic equipment, which was 14 metres long and eight metres wide. When the navigation systems failed, a distress call was received. The Salvamento Marítimo vessel Salvamar Leo set off from its base in Alicante around 5:00 p.m. to tow the catamaran.

The ship was anchored at Cabo de la Huerta, and because the electrical system could not be used to raise the anchor, they had to do so manually.

The Maritime Rescue personnel assisted the catamaran’s occupants and then pulled the yacht at a leisurely speed to the Alicante marina, where it docked this afternoon.

A resident of Playa de San Juan said that the boat had been anchored near Cabo de la Huerta for several days, while another recalled hearing a tremendous thunderclap around three p.m.

The National Police have arrested a 38-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman in Elche (Alicante) on suspicion of committing a serious injury crime after discovering evidence that their daughter, a minor under the age of three, had undergone genital surgery that resulted in irreversible injuries.

The matter was brought to the attention of the National Police in Elche after a request from the Court of First Instance and the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office, as well as a report written by professionals at the city’s health centre.

According to the report, during a normal medical check of the three-year-old girl, scarring physical indicators were discovered that may match to a traditional technique known as female genital mutilation, which is still practised in several African countries.

The educational and healthcare personnel conducted the evaluation as part of routine medical procedures, without any prior suspicions. The minor arrived in Spain in May 2024 and was legally residing with her parents.

The National Police investigation revealed that during the minor’s care and interviews with the parents, the father admitted that the intervention on the child occurred within the framework of a cultural belief but did not provide specific details about the time or location of the intervention.

However, every piece of evidence gathered by police officials suggested that the act occurred outside of Spain. The inquiry also helped investigators identify the offenders, allowing them to locate and arrest the couple in Elche. The two arrested are being probed for a crime involving serious bodily harm. Both appeared before the Elche Duty Investigative Court.

The National Police warn everyone that any act that violates the physical or moral integrity of minors is a serious breach of Spanish law, regardless of the culprits’ cultural or personal backgrounds.

Child protection is ensured by national legislation and international treaties that Spain has signed. Respect for cultural and religious traditions must always be tempered by adherence to Human Rights, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of 1948.

States have a commitment to protect the well-being, safety, and dignity of all minors, without exception.

The crime rate in the Valencian Community decreased by 5% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2024, making it the region with the second-largest decline in criminal offences, trailing only Catalonia (6%).

Between January and March, 66,659 crimes were perpetrated in the Valencian Community, compared to 70,179 criminal offences recorded in the same months the previous year.

In Spain, the rate fell by 2.8% in the first quarter of 2025, but rapes grew by 7.6%, as did drug trafficking (4.9%) and attempted murders (19.9%).

According to the Ministry of the Interior’s first quarter of 2025 report, a total of 589,683 criminal offences were registered in the first three months of the year, with 468,104 of them being conventional crime (79.4%) and the balance being cybercrime.

The traditional crime rate, at 40.6 offences per thousand residents, is one of the lowest in historical records and one of the lowest in the world, following a 3.2% decrease in these crimes in March.

Online crimes are at 9.5 per thousand inhabitants, a 1.2% drop

In reality, cyber fraud (87.8% of all cybercrime) declined by 3.5% in March, confirming a shift in the increasing trend that began in 2011 and ended for the first time in 2024.

The Interior Ministry emphasises the progress of this crime over time, noting that it climbed nearly sixfold between 2016 and 2024, when it increased by 488.3%.

Rapes are increasing, but at a lesser rate.

Penetrative sexual assaults increased again to 1,242 in the first three months of the year, 7.6% more than in the same time in 2024. Other crimes against sexual freedom also climbed, this time by 2.5%.

The growth rate for all offences against sexual freedom is 3.8%, which is lower than in previous years, as the year-on-year increase between 2023 and 2024 was 5.7%. In a statement, the Ministry of the Interior relates these figures to policies aimed at raising awareness and reducing tolerance for these crimes, which leads to more reports.

84 completed homicides and 319 attempted homicides up to March

In the first three months of 2025, there were 84 intentional homicides and completed murders, a reduction of 11.6%. In contrast, attempted homicides and murders rose by 19.9%, to 319.

Crimes of bodily harm and rioting also climbed by 2.1% compared to the same time in 2024, totalling 6,374. Kidnapping figures remained constant, from 28 in the first quarter of 2024 to 26 in the first quarter of 2025.

There is more drug trafficking and fewer robberies

Drug trafficking offences rose by 4.9% in the first quarter, reaching 5,287. The Ministry of the Interior credits this increase to the operations of the State Security Forces and Corps as outlined in specific programmes such as the Special Security Plan for Campo de Gibraltar.

Because very few complaints are lodged in this area, the Interior Ministry considers the increase to be an “indicator of police activity against this type of crime.”

On the other hand, all property crimes, which make up 42.5% of all conventional crime, fell by 5.3%.

Consequently, there was a decrease in robberies involving violence and intimidation (-9.4%), robberies involving force in residences, establishments, and other facilities (-14.3%), thefts (-3.3%), and car thefts (-3.2%).

Autonomous communities commit crimes

Catalonia (-6%), the Valencian Community (-5%), and the Region of Murcia (-3.9%) are the autonomous communities with the highest reductions in crime during the last year.

It also fell in the Canary Islands (-3.8%), the Community of Madrid (-3.5%), the Balearic Islands (-3%), the Basque Country (-1.8%), and Andalusia (-0.6%), among other areas.

Castile and León, on the other hand, has had the greatest increase in crime in the first three months of the year, up 5%. Ceuta followed with a 3.3% increase, while Asturias saw a 2.8% gain. Crime rates have also risen in Aragon (2%), Extremadura (1.4%), and Galicia (1%).

The Interior Ministry’s statistics include data from the National Police, the Civil Guard, regional security forces, and numerous local bodies.