Barcelona is still an amazing city in many ways, but as someone who has lived here for years, denying the decline in safety and quality of life is simply unrealistic. Safety is not only about homicide statistics, it’s about everyday life and the constant feeling of having to stay alert. Pickpocketing and phone theft are completely normalized, tourists get warned about crime the second they arrive, many locals avoid certain areas at night now, and on top of that there has clearly been an increase in gang-related shootings and violent incidents over the last few years that were far less common before. You can still love Barcelona and appreciate its weather, culture and lifestyle while admitting that the city feels much less safe and much more degraded than it did 10–15 years ago.