Public Assault and Death Threats
At approximately 8:22 PM on August 12, local police in Benidorm, Spain, received a report of a vicious assault on Avenida Ciudad Deportiva. According to the female victim’s statement to the police, she and her partner were in a cafe when her partner demanded to check her phone. Upon refusal, the suspect slapped her and smashed her phone. The violence spilled outside, where the attacker pulled her hair, pushed her to the ground, kicked her repeatedly, and crushed her glasses. While the victim begged for mercy, the suspect did not stop, instead issuing death threats: “I won’t just hit you anymore, I’m going to kill you.” Ultimately, a passing citizen walking their dog yelled at the attacker, causing the suspect to cease the assault and flee in a vehicle.
Police Investigation Reveals Past Record and Gender Transition
Upon responding, patrol officers initially believed they were searching for a male suspect. While police were interviewing the victim at the scene, the suspect drove back to the location. During identity verification, officers discovered that although the suspect’s ID card retained a typically masculine name, their legal gender was officially registered as female in official records, based on “self-identified gender.” Internal police records further revealed that the individual had a severe history of violence and had previously served prison time for assaulting an ex-wife. It was during this incarceration that the suspect completed the legal gender change procedure under Spain’s Transgender Law. During the arrest and subsequent jail search, the suspect did not object to being searched by a male officer. Although attempting to file a counter-accusation of assault against the victim, the claim was dismissed by police due to a lack of visible injuries and witness support.
Legal Application and Procedural Changes
This legal gender transition directly impacts the judicial classification of the case. Under the current Spanish legal framework, specialized legislation for male violence against female partners carries stricter criminal penalties and falls under the jurisdiction of specific courts for violence against women. However, given that the suspect’s current legal gender is female, police could only make the arrest on suspicion of “domestic abuse between two women,” and the case has been transferred to a local court of first instance for standard investigation. During her police statement, the victim revealed that throughout their 15-month relationship, the suspect never expressed any inclination of identifying as a woman, only mentioning in private that the gender change was done on the advice of a prison psychologist. In response, the defense attorney stated that the gender change procedure was completed two years before the incident, denying any subjective intent by their client to use transgender identity to evade legal sanctions.
