On Saturday, in a chalet in the Madrid town of Alpedrete, a 60-year-old man killed his wife, who was the same age, with 50 stab wounds and then committed suicide. This Monday, the mayor of the city of Madrid, Juan Fernández (PP), spoke. Telemadrid: He expressed his condolences to the family “for the death” of these two people, stressed that the man “loved his wife very much” and considered that “the system failed” because it was unable to identify his psychological illness, which ultimately “did not resist the pressure and led him to commit this act”.
According to Fernández, the alleged perpetrator had been “on sick leave for a long time” and had requested disability due to his psychological situation. Finally, not receiving a favorable result from the Administration would have led him to commit the alleged murder of his wife.
“It wasn’t out of hatred,” said the first mayor of Alpedrete, who underlined that there had been no previous reports of mistreatment between the couple and also underlined the “affection” that the children claim to have for their parents. Shortly after these statements, the Ministry of Equal Opportunities confirmed the murder as a sexist crime and the 60-year-old woman is now the 38th victim of 2025.
Fernández, a political representative, has incurred not only the denial of this violence – justifying it as if part of the responsibility lay with the Administration for how it proceeded – but also misconceptions in this area, although very widespread, especially among the right and the far right. For example, the allusion to the fact that there have been no previous complaints, which happens in most cases because women are afraid for themselves, for their children, of not being believed or, sometimes, of not recognizing themselves as victims. Of the 1,333 murders registered so far in the official register, which began in 2003, only 296 cases have been reported, in 22.2% of cases.
Even when we talked about something that in this area is treated with great caution by experts and specialists, how mental health intervenes in these cases, as well as alcohol, medications or drugs; All issues that are taken into account as important in the context of gender violence, but which are never the ultimate causes of the aggressors who perpetrate it, and cases where the situation of the aggressor due to any of them are residual and complete defenses in judicial proceedings.
In Spain, since the approval of the law on gender violence in 2004, crimes committed within a partner or ex-partner are specifically regulated as violence against women. It is produced by an inequality which at its last level leads to murder, but which accumulates, every day, thousands of victims to whom their attackers subject different types of violence: from physical to psychological, sexual or economic.
And despite the figures that reflect this violence – 99,762 complaints of sexist violence have been filed this year – the hidden bag is estimated to be around 80%, that is, only two out of ten cases are known. Specialists from various sectors, institutions and organizations have been trying for years to reduce this underestimation, reiterating that the denial of this violence, even more so when it occurs at an institutional level, goes in exactly the opposite direction.
The 016 telephone line assists victims of sexist violence, their families and those around them 24 hours a day, every day of the year, in 53 different languages. The number is not recorded on the phone bill, but the call must be canceled from the device. You can also contact via email 016-online@igualdad.gob.es and via WhatsApp on 600 000 016. Minors can contact the ANAR Foundation telephone number 900 20 20 10. In case of emergency it is possible to call 112 or the telephone numbers of the State Police (091) and the Civil Guard (062). And if you can’t call you can use the ALERTCOPS application, from which an alert signal is sent to the Police with geolocation.
