True Crime Cases in Spain
8 documented cases spanning 1988–2017 . Each case is researched from public sources, with locations, perpetrators, victims and video coverage.
The Spanish cases I have mapped here run from quiet, domestic horrors to attacks that reshaped the country. In Santander, Jose Antonio Rodriguez Vega posed as a handyman to enter the homes of elderly women, and near Valencia the abduction and murder of the three Alcasser girls left a wound that Spain still remembers.
Other cases trace a wider range. Alfredo Galan, the Playing Card Killer, shot strangers around Madrid and left a card at the scenes; Joaquin Ferrandiz preyed on young women in Castellon; and Jose Breton murdered his own two children in Cordoba. The Costa del Sol strangler case also exposed a wrongful conviction before DNA pointed to the real killer.
Two of the entries here are mass-casualty attacks: the 2004 Madrid commuter train bombings, the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain's history, and the 2017 vehicle attack on Barcelona's La Rambla. Each case below is researched individually, with sources and the details that are actually known.
-
The Las Ramblas Attack -
The Cordoba Children Murders by Jose Breton -
The Madrid Train Bombings (11-M) - Alfredo Galan - The Playing Card Killer
- The Costa del Sol Strangler
-
The Castellón Serial Killer -
The Alcàsser Girls Murders - The Old Lady Killer of Santander
See every pin on the interactive map, or browse all cases by country.