A man convicted of brutally killing his ex-partner’s cat in Torrevieja is set to be deported after a court ordered his immediate expulsion from the country.
The Policia Nacional arrested the Colombian native on Monday to enforce the ruling, which includes a five-year ban from Spain following his conviction for animal cruelty.
The thug was convicted with aggravating circumstances and gender-based violence in the form of so-called ‘vicarious violence’.
The case relates to an incident in April in the San Roque neighbourhood, where the man killed his former partner’s cat, named Nala, in a public street.
According to court findings, the animal, named Nala, was struck repeatedly with a broom handle before being kicked while lying motionless on the pavement.
Police said the deportation was expected to take place within hours of his detention as authorities moved to enforce the sentence.
The ruling was issued by a criminal court in Torrevieja following a fast-track judicial process.
The defendant, who was attempting to regularise his immigration status in Spain, accepted deportation as part of an agreement reached during the proceedings.
The expulsion order replaces a potential prison sentence and prevents him from returning to Spain for at least five years.
Because the conviction will remain on his criminal record, legal experts say the restrictions on returning to Spain or regularising his status could extend beyond that period.
During the five-year ban, he will also be prohibited from entering other European Union countries.
Animal welfare organisations involved in the case described the ruling as highly unusual and potentially without precedent in Spain.
The case sparked widespread anger in Torrevieja after footage of the attack circulated online.
Witnesses recorded the incident, showing Local Police officers restraining the man after the cat had already died.
Animal welfare groups argued that the attack constituted an act of vicarious violence, alleging that the animal was deliberately targeted in order to cause emotional harm to the offender’s former partner.
In the days before the court ruling, hundreds of people attended a demonstration in Torrevieja calling for justice for Nala.
The protest, organised by local animal welfare organisations and supported by PACMA and other groups, drew one of the largest turnouts seen in the town for an animal cruelty case.
Campaigners welcomed the court’s decision, arguing that it sends a strong message that animal abuse can carry serious legal consequences in Spain regardless of the offender’s nationality.
