Ten women have died at the hands of their partner or ex-partner in Andalucia so far this year.
The grim milestone comes after the murder of a Hungarian expat in Benahavis last month, which was this week confirmed as a domestic violence killing.
The case was reclassified once it emerged the suspect and the victim were in a relationship between 2018 and 2020.
The decision also means Malaga province has now recorded six of Andalucia’s 10 confirmed femicides this year, while the region has suffered the highest number of gender violence killings in Spain in 2026.
The expat community was shocked at the start of the year when British mother-of-three Victoria Hart was stabbed to death inside her home, allegedly by her ex-partner.
Nationally, the latest confirmation brings the total number of women killed by their current or former partners this year to 36, taking the overall death toll since official records began in 2003 to 1,377.
Equality Minister Ana Redondo and the government’s delegate against gender violence, Carmen Martinez Perza, expressed their ‘strongest condemnation’ of the latest killing and offered their support to the victim’s family and friends, urging institutions and society to do everything possible to prevent further deaths.
The Benahavis victim, 45, was found dead on July 21 inside her home in the Los Arqueros area after a neighbour called emergency services reporting screams for help.
When paramedics arrived, they found the woman with a fatal knife wound to her neck. She was also partially undressed, prompting investigators to examine the possibility of a sexual assault.
The suspect fled the scene, abandoning his car in nearby Marbella before hiding in woodland close to Istan.
He was eventually tracked down on July 31, after allegedly leaving behind a diary confessing to the killing at a friend’s home.
According to the Guardia Civil, the suspect attempted to cut his own throat with a box cutter as officers closed in, but was rescued, treated in hospital and arrested the following day.
Investigators later confirmed that although the couple had separated several years ago, they had recently resumed contact and were living together as flatmates.
The man remains under investigation for murder and sexual assault within the context of gender violence.
The confirmation means Andalucia has now recorded gender violence killings this year in Quesada, Olvera, Alhaurin el Grande, Cordoba, Malaga city, Mairena del Aljarafe, Rincon de la Victoria, Mijas, Antequera and Benahavis.
Last year, the region recorded 14 women murdered by their partners or former partners.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
