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Demonstration against violence against women in Madrid in November: "Machoism kills"
Photo: VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA / REUTERS
The Spanish government wants to improve the protection of victims of domestic violence.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said nine women were killed in December alone, most by their partners or ex-partners.
It is a "terrible" series of deadly violence against women, "macho terrorism" is a "national problem," said the minister.
The state will do everything to end these crimes, said Grande-Marlaska after a crisis meeting in Madrid.
All police departments in the country have been called on to increase the protection of women and children.
Among the victims of the recent incidents is a pregnant woman who is said to have been stabbed to death by her ex-partner in Escalona on Wednesday evening.
An emergency caesarean section after the crime was unsuccessful.
Also on Wednesday, according to police in Madrid, a man stabbed the 20-year-old daughter of his former partner.
Another woman was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend in Bilbao.
And in Benidorm on Thursday, a 22-year-old fell to her death from the sixth floor – her boyfriend of the same age was arrested.
The cases are only officially included in the statistics when the men are definitely the perpetrators.
In the statistics, which have been kept in Spain since 2003, a total of 1180 cases have already been recorded.
The latest two cases are likely to exceed the number of 48 murders of women from the previous year.
Grande-Marlaska called for December's crimes to be a "wake-up call."
He also urged citizens to report any suspicion of gender-based violence.
Police officers across the country have been instructed to "step up" their vigilance.
Violence in partnership is "not a private problem," but a "social tragedy that we as a society have to face," said the minister.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on Twitter that Spain had suffered a "terrible" setback in the fight against gender-based violence this month.
fek/AFP/Reuters/dpa
