Nationwide mass protests were held today in Spain to call out the lack of political response to, and media coverage of, the deaths of several women from sexual and domestic violence.

The outrage was fuelled following a series of high-profile rape cases and the deaths this summer of 19 women, killed by current or former partners.

According to data collected by the Spanish government, 1,017 women have been killed by domestic violence since 2003, with 42 murders this year so far.

The protests were organised by Emergencia Feminista (Feminist Emergency), who said:  “The gender-based violence of the summer has led to the worst figures in more than a decade. 

“We can’t let another school or parliamentary term begin as if nothing has happened. To do so would be to tolerate the intolerable … This is an emergency.”

Sexual assault and violence has been at the forefront of Spanish politics following the notorious “wolf pack” gang-rape of an 18-year-old woman at the “running of the bulls” festival in Pamplona in July 2016, and the trial of seven men accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in Catalonia in October 2016.

Both of these cases drew attention to Spain’s sexual offences legislation, which recognises an assault as rape only when physical force, threats or coercion are involved.

At the end of the wolf pack trial in April 2018 the men were charged with continuous sexual abuse, as the crime lacked violence or intimidation and were sentenced to just nine years in prison. In June this year the Supreme Court in Madrid overturned the lower court’s verdict, raising their sentences to 15 years.

In parallel, the ongoing trial of the men guilty of raping the 14-year-old from Catalonia had their charges upgraded from sexual abuse to rape after an outcry from women's rights activists.

Protesters have been calling for changes in Spanish legislation to distinguish between rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse. 

Last year the country’s socialist government vowed to amend the rape laws to create one offence of non-consensual sex with no requirement to demonstrate physical force or intimidation. 

The latest victim to die from domestic violence was Adaliz Villagra, 31, who was stabbed by her former partner in Madrid on Tuesday, in front of her two children, aged 10 and eight.