The Government Establishes Two New Sections on Violence Against Women in Alicante and Benidorm

The Council of Ministers has approved a Royal Decree establishing the creation of 50 new judge positions and 42 prosecutor positions specialised in violence against women across Spain. In the Valencian Community, this measure involves the creation of five new specialised Sections in Violence Against Women in the judicial districts of Alicante, Benidorm, Llíria, Vila-real, and Castellón.

The new positions in Alicante, Benidorm, and Castellón will become operational on December 31, 2025, coinciding with the completion of the deployment of the Courts of Instance, which will replace the current single-judge courts. Meanwhile, those in Llíria and Vila-real will commence on October 3, 2025.

The elimination of an Instruction Court in Benidorm to transform it into one for Gender Violence has sparked controversy among numerous associations. At the time, the proposal was met with absolute rejection by judges, Justice Administration lawyers (LAJ), the Prosecutor's Office, solicitors, and the Icali (Illustrious Bar Association of Alicante), who believed this change would cause a 'serious backlog' in the processing of cases, as the new sections handling cases of violence against women would also have to investigate all sexual offences.

Legal operators in Benidorm argued that, to meet the real needs of the Costa Blanca capital, which last year recorded over 15 million overnight stays, one of the four instruction courts could not be eliminated, but should be maintained and a new Court of Violence Against Women created.

However, the Government has not heeded their protests, and these units will be added to the 22 existing Courts of Violence Against Women in the region, which will be integrated as specialised Sections within the new Courts of Instance, as established by Organic Law 1/2025 on the Efficiency of the Public Justice Service.

Overall, the Valencian Community will have a total of 27 specialised Sections, which 'significantly strengthens its judicial capacity to address this type of crime'. The measure, driven by the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts and designed in collaboration with the General Council of the Judiciary, 'demonstrates the Government's firm commitment to protecting victims of gender and sexual violence, ensuring that the judicial system has the appropriate resources to provide specialised and effective attention', according to a statement from this department.

The Efficiency Law also expands the competencies of these Sections, which until now were limited to cases of gender violence within the couple or ex-couple, to include 'all sexual offences committed against women, regardless of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator'. This requires 'greater judicial specialisation' and allows for a 'more agile, sensitive, and effective response from the system', the Ministry asserts.

In this way, Spain 'complies with international obligations derived from the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence'. The approved Royal Decree provides that each new judge position will be accompanied by a specialised prosecutor position, which also strengthens the Prosecutor's Office staff in this area. Nationally, the measure will allow for an increase of nearly 50% in the number of judges specialised in violence against women.

According to the Ministry, this transformation is 'one of the central axes of the Efficiency Law of the Public Justice Service, which promotes the largest reorganisation of the Spanish judicial system in decades, with the aim of making it more modern, functional, and specialised'.

In total, the law will transform more than 3,900 courts into 431 Courts of Instance, allowing for a more efficient distribution of resources and a greater capacity to adapt to the actual workload.