The City Council of the Zaragoza town of Villanueva de Gállego has decreed two days of mourning, on Sunday and Monday, for the death of María del Carmen, 39, allegedly stabbed by her ex-partner, Manuel Santiago Cortés, who remains in police units waiting to go to court.
While the entire town, of about 4,800 inhabitants, has turned to the loved ones of the victim while condemning the murder.
Concentrations of rejection follow one another, one took place this Saturday in the Zaragoza town of Ejea de los Caballeros, which was attended by the Aragonese president, Javier Lambán, a native of that town and where he was for the inauguration of a Fair.
Before, on his Twitter account he had written: "Shocked by the cruel murder of a woman in Villanueva de Gállego in front of her son. How much pain and sadness. We will continue to fight this scourge vigorously and with all the instruments at our disposal. Not one less "
In statements to the media, Lambán has indicated that "the fact of murdering his ex-wife in front of his son seems to me to be absolutely insurmountable atrocity."
Likewise, he has defined the murderer as "a despicable type, a true scoundrel for whom there is no penalty that really punishes the crime that he has been capable of committing."
The Aragonese president regretted that now "there is no choice but to grit our teeth and continue fighting against this scourge", as well as expressed his solidarity with those closest to the victim and with the minor: "We are next to friends and the family, but above all the minor, who has seen at the age of six an act that will mark the rest of his life, something unbearable".
Condemnation rallies have been called for this afternoon in Villanueva de Gállego by the town council and in Zaragoza by the coordinator of feminist organizations.
For her part, the Government delegate in Aragon, Rosa Serrano, stated on her Twitter account that she follows "with great sadness the investigation into the murder of Mari Carmen, 39, and the mother of a child."
He adds that "the alleged murderer was his ex-partner. Until when are these macabre statistics of losses, orphans and senseless violence?"
Meanwhile, the Government Delegation against Gender Violence, under the Ministry of Equality, continues to collect data to confirm whether it is a crime for this type of violence.
The Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, has stressed the need to "strengthen the tools, budgets and personnel that accompany and save the lives of victims of sexist violence".
Reinforcement that, in his opinion, should be done in "all institutions, throughout the country, until there is not one less."
The sub-delegate of the Government in Zaragoza, Fernando Beltrán, reported that "both the victim and the aggressor were in the Viogén system, which means that there had been a complaint at the time."
Of course, "the restraining order had already expired, the time for that measure had passed and the case was inactive." In this sense, Beltrán added that "the victim was in recent months with unappreciated risk and over time the case had been inactivated."
The alleged murderer was already convicted in May 2022 for threatening his former partner with a knife. The sentence was limited to carrying out work for the community and a six-month restraining order was imposed on him that ended last December.
They were separated about two years ago by mutual agreement, and custody of the son fell to the father who cared for him with the support of his family.
No one suspected that something like this could happen and the coldness with which he acted is spoken of by the fact that, according to some neighbors, moments before the murder he was in a nearby bar having a drink with the child. He told him: "Come on dad, mom is going to come look for me" as María del Carmen L., 39 years old, did every Friday.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
