Alicante Declares Official Mourning for Oriana's Murder

The Mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, has condemned with "total firmness" the "heinous" murder of a 29-year-old woman that occurred on Tuesday afternoon on Cánovas del Castillo Street, in the Carolinas Altas neighbourhood, which the Government Delegation has confirmed as a case of gender violence.

"Violence against women, intolerable and unacceptable, strikes again with full brutality; and this time it has happened very close, in Carolinas Altas," lamented the mayor. "Once again, it is necessary to call on the public and all institutions to unite and reject and act with the utmost firmness and determination against this scourge to put an end to gender violence," he added.

The mayor reiterated that "it is necessary to reiterate the individual and collective rejection of gender violence, as well as the unwavering will to eradicate this scourge from a society that must not allow such horrific crimes as the one that occurred in Carolinas Altas, nor the 40 of this nature that have been recorded so far this year in Spain."

The Alicante City Council has declared this Thursday a day of official mourning, during which flags will fly at half-mast, and has called for a gathering at 12 noon at the doors of the town hall and to observe three minutes of silence in protest against this new gender-based murder.

The regular plenary session of the Alicante City Council held last Thursday once again condemned gender-based crimes and observed a minute of silence for the six fatalities recorded in the last month due to gender violence. The municipal rejection of gender violence was also evident on November 25 during the celebration in the Blue Hall of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.