The man arrested for the deaths of three women in Burgos has a history of gender-based violence.

BarcelonaThe 60-year-old man arrested this morning for starting a fire last night in a building in Miranda de Ebro (Burgos) that killed his ex-partner, her mother, and a neighbor was convicted of kidnapping and torturing women, according to police and judicial sources who spoke to EFE. The deceased are a 78-year-old woman, a 58-year-old woman, and a 23-year-old woman. Four other people were injured, including an 11-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska confirmed that this is another case of gender-based violence and stated that both the killer, who turned himself in to the police after the three murders, and his ex-partner, Dolores, 58, had been in the system (which protects victims of domestic violence) but for relationships with other people. The aggressor's case occurred in 2007 and the woman's in 2008, meaning both were currently inactive.

The assailant's criminal record is recent. The Burgos Provincial Court sentenced him in late 2024 to one year and seven months in prison for holding a woman captive in a house in the Burgos town, where he chained and beat her. Although the full term of his sentence was completed in February 2026, the man had been free for some time, as he had been in pretrial detention since his arrest in 2023, when the attacks occurred. In the same ruling, the judges acquitted him of sexual assault because they could not prove that he forced the woman with a kiss. Ten years earlier, the murderer was sentenced to six years in prison for kidnapping a nine-year-old girl for 14 hours, also in Miranda de Ebro. He tied her up, and she was freed by the National Police in good health. The fire in the apartment started Tuesday night, and hours later, the assailant turned himself in at the city's police station. He did so after learning that the police were looking for him because witnesses placed him in the area at the time of the fire, and he had previously been seen piling up mattresses and other belongings on the ground floor of the building where the victims lived. Emergency medical personnel treated seven people, two of whom died at the scene, while five others were taken to the hospital, where one of them died from the severity of their injuries. Among the injured, in addition to the two minors, were a 30-year-old woman, a 23-year-old woman, and a 58-year-old woman. 1,354 murders since 2003

According to statistics from the Ministry of Equality, 11 women have been murdered as a result of gender-based violence in 2016, and 1,354 since official records began in 2003 (the victim's mother or neighbor are not included in this count). The town's mayor, Aitana Hernando, a member of the Socialist Party, has declared three days of official mourning and called for a minute of silence for the victims. Meanwhile, Minister Marlaska reiterated that the fight against gender-based violence is a "matter of state" and emphasized the Spanish government's commitment to providing "all necessary resources" to combat these crimes. "It must be reiterated once again that this is a societal issue, a matter of state in which everyone must be absolutely committed," the minister stressed, emphasizing his government's decision to "confront any discourse that denies violence against women simply because they are women," EFE reports. The Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, also urged all political groups, "without discrimination," to participate in a meeting to reach "basic agreements" to respond to "a terrible escalation of violence" that she described as "terrorism against women." "It is devastating and terrible. There are no words to express such horror," the minister stated upon entering the I Summit against Hate organized by the Spanish government.