Mataró scores 85 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 219 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Mataró safe?

Spain · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

85.3Very high · rank 219 / 6,168
safer than 96% of ranked cities

Mataró is a city in Spain, home to about 140k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 219 of 6,168, with a safety score of 85.3 out of 100, which puts it in the top band of the ranking.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)

No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Spain are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Mataró really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Mataró recorded 0.5 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2021 - well below the global city median. Spain's income inequality is middling (Gini 33.4) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Spain at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2025-05-11). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Spain without any avoid-travel warning in force. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.

What to watch out for in Spain

Terrorism in Spain · Political situation · Lost or stolen passports · Protecting your belongings · Vehicle crime · Attacks and sexual assault · Drink spiking and alcohol · Scams · Timeshares and holiday clubs · Personal ID · Alcohol laws and bans · Alcohol laws in the Balearic Islands · Falls from height · Illegal drugs · +16 more

Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Spain — country-level, not specific to Mataró. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: 0.5 /100kcity-measured, 2021
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 33.4country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.918country, 2023
Income: $59,830/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 140kurban centre · 7,794/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 3.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 66/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 73/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 55/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 2.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.86Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 10.1 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 4.3 doctors /1k2.9 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Spain

Flood: 6.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 4.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 3.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 2.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Spain as a whole, not Mataró specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Spain (as of 2025).

All country-level figures shared by every city in Spain; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%84

Peace25%100

Equality25%70

Development10%92

One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Mataró that gives 85.3/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Mataró compared with Barcelona

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Mataró, red favours Barcelona.
Measure	Mataró	Barcelona	Difference
Safety score	85.3	82.3	+3.0 — better for Mataró
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	0.5 /100k	0.5 /100k	±0.0 /100k
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	2	−2 — better for Mataró

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Spain, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Barcelona →

Nearby cities

See Mataró on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Europe → · Full travel briefings →