Crims dominates TV3 with the Barcelona case that marked the pandemic

Crims returns to TV3 strongly and reopens one of Barcelona’s toughest pandemic cases

Crims’ return to TV3 has got off to a strong start with a first episode focused on one of the most shocking cases experienced in Barcelona during the pandemic. The sixth season premiered in prime time with “L’assassí de la pandèmia”, an instalment that reconstructs attacks on homeless people during lockdown and has once again placed Catalan true crime at the centre of the conversation.

The premiere drew 479,000 viewers and achieved a 25.9% share, leading the night and pushing TV3’s daily share to 18.6%. With Carles Porta at the helm, the programme revisits one of the cases that most shocked the city in 2020, with attacks committed at different points in Barcelona, including the areas around L’Auditori, the Tívoli and the Sagrada Família.

The new instalment retains the format’s recognisable tone and avoids dwelling on sensationalism. Rather than exploiting the harshest images, the episode gives weight to testimonies linked to social care and to the impact the case had on homeless people. This perspective reinforces one of the features that has consolidated the programme’s success: turning very well-known incidents into television stories with context, tension and human weight.

The second episode of the season, “L’últim deute”, focuses on the murder of Janet Jumillas, who disappeared in 2019 after going to the Agencia Tributaria in Cornellà de Llobregat. The Mossos d’Esquadra investigation, with neither a body nor a crime scene at the outset, eventually progressed from a tiny detail. The case became another example of the type of story that works best in Crims: real events, police investigation and a reconstruction that puts the victim at the centre.