The Ministry of Equality sends this Monday to the Judiciary and the Attorney General's Office a series of recommendations to improve the protection of victims of gender violence, such as increasing the restraining distance of aggressors with bracelets, after the ten murders this year, in which in six cases there were previous complaints.
Sources from Equality have explained to EFE, that the recommendations focus on improving some issues that hinder the effectiveness of the Cometa devices.
Specifically, given the misuse of the devices by the accused as well as the non-compliance with the obligations entailed by this judicial measure, Equality proposes "a firm response", such as initiating proceedings for breach of sentence, which is not always done, and demanding responsibility for the damages caused.
Another of the issues proposed by the ministry of Ana Redondo, is to change the distance of prohibition of approach to the victim when it is less than 350 meters, the minimum distance recommended for an optimal system response capability. The Government considers that at a shorter distance the reaction capacity is very complicated because the Security Forces find it difficult to arrive in time to prevent aggressions.
Furthermore, in the letters sent this Monday to judges and prosecutors, it warns that the system is strained by continuous alarms that reach the victim and the Police in cases where the accused's home is within the fixed exclusion area established judicially, that is to say, when it is within the prohibited area of the agreed distance around the victim's home or workplace.
Other of the points that Equality considers should be modified refers to situations in which the level of coverage is deficient in the areas where the aggressor or victim habitually reside or are located. If there is no coverage, the monitoring at all times of the positions of aggressor or victim cannot be guaranteed, which is essential for the system's operation, Redondo's department recalls.
The murders of Ana María, María José and Petronila in a dark week for gender violence -in which two minors have also been murdered- raise to ten the sexist crimes so far this year. In six of the cases there were previous complaints.
The last of them, pending official confirmation, occurred last Friday in Sarriguren, in the Navarrese town of Valle Egüés, where the police arrested a man accused of murdering his 29-year-old wife with a bladed weapon and of seriously injuring his mother, the victim's mother-in-law.
Should this last case be confirmed as gender violence, there would already be 1,353 women murdered at the hands of their partners or ex-partners since 2003, the year in which official statistics began to be compiled. Of the 48 fatal victims of gender violence in 2025, the lowest figure in the historical series, Spain has registered one of the worst starts to the year in 2026.
In just a month and a half, 6 minors have been orphaned in 2026 after the femicides of their mothers, a figure that rises to 510 since 2013 (adults are not included in the statistics).
016 support phone for victims of sexist violence
Two minors murdered in the last week
To the nine femicides, we must add the first two vicarious crimes of the year: that of Noemí, daughter of María José, 12 years old, slit by her father along with her mother on Tuesday, February 17, in Xilxes (Castellón), and that of a 10-year-old boy murdered this Friday in Arona (Tenerife) by his father, who also seriously injured the mother.
The Minister of Equality herself, Ana Redondo, has recognized this week that sometimes risk assessments are not done with sufficient depth and has advocated for greater forcefulness, once the restraining orders have been agreed upon.
The 016 serves all victims of sexist violence and their environments 24 hours a day and in 53 different languages, as does the email [email protected]; attention is also provided via WhatsApp through the number 600000016, and minors can contact the phone number of Fundación ANAR 900 20 20 10.
In an emergency situation, one can call 112 or the phone numbers of the National Police (091) and the Civil Guard (062) and in case of not being able to call one can resort to the ALERTCOPS application, from which an alert signal is sent to the Police with geolocation.
