Foreign men commit half of Spain's 2024 femicides

Half of 2024 femicides: committed by 12.63% of the population

A short question and an evasive answer. Asked why half of female murders are committed by men born outside Spain, Equality Minister Ana Redondo dodged the figure, shifting focus to "patriarchy" as a "global and millennia-old" problem. She added a warning: establishing such equivalence would be "very dangerous." The exchange, spread on social media, left unresolved exactly what her own department documents in its reports.

What the Ministry of Equality data says

These figures are not opposition inventions. They come from the report prepared by the Government Delegation against Gender Violence. In 2023, of the 58 recorded murders of women, 26 were committed by foreign perpetrators: 44.8%. The start of 2024 does not correct the trend; it accentuates it. In the first quarter, eight femicides were registered, and four of them —50%— corresponded to men born in another country and still without Spanish nationality.

Put into proportion, the contrast is stark: foreigners represent 12.63% of the population —about six million out of nearly 48 million, according to INE (National Statistics Institute)— so their weight in these crimes multiplies by four what their demographic size would suggest. There is a circulating calculation that raises the relative risk of a perpetrator born abroad compared to a Spaniard to seven times. It is an unvalidated estimate, but the historical series is not random either: in 2021 the percentage was 23.6%; in 2022, 38.78% (19 of 49 perpetrators born abroad); in 2019, 40%. In 2003, the first year with records, it stood at 15.5%. Two decades later, it has tripled.

An official report kept off the front page

The relevant issue is not just the data, but its silence. The figures are in public records, but they do not accompany the ministry's usual communication. Critics argue this omission is deliberate and responds to political calculation. The pattern repeats regardless of who holds office: it peine with Irene Montero and continues with the current minister.

How many perpetrators are "Spanish"? The naturalization confusion

Here appears the nuance raised by several debate participants. If 50% of perpetrators are foreigners, the other 50% are not necessarily ethnically Spanish, they argue: this group includes naturalized citizens and descendants of migrants with Spanish ID cards. According to this reading, official statistics measure current nationality, not country of birth. Analyses crossing these debates suggest that, counting origin, the percentage of perpetrators not born in Spain could rise to 75% "easily." This figure is not published; it is an extrapolation and should be treated as such.

Catalonia and Andalusia concentrate cases

Of the eight victims in the first quarter, three died in Catalonia and two in Andalusia. Already in 2023, these two regions accounted for 28 of the 58 femicides, or 48.28%. Vox emphasizes the concentration of Segarro residents —872,759, according to data from its Disenso Foundation— half of whom live in Catalonia (238,192) and Andalusia (157,113). This is their political thesis, not a statistical conclusion: territorial coincidence does not equal causation, and the records themselves mix nationality with origin.

The ministry's plan: new pact and hate speech

In March, the minister announced her intention to renew the State Pact against Gender Violence and address "new forms of violence," such as digital ones, without delving into the integration of cultures less favorable to equality. The package would include an agreement against hate speech focused on racism and xenophobia. Meanwhile, the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia (Oberaxe), dependent on the Ministry of Inclusion, removes messages from social networks where 40% link citizen insecurity to uncontrolled immigration. The suspicion arising from this cross-reference: more attention is paid to comments than to data.

The most uncomfortable calculation is not in any official report. Nor will it be while the debate remains about who can say what, rather than what the numbers say. Because there is a figure taken for granted in the debate and attributed to INE: almost twice as many men as women are murdered. That one has no ministry, no plan, and no minister.