Spain's interior ministry has paid compensation to the two children of Lucia Patrascu, who was murdered by her husband in Puerto Pollensa in May 2016.
The compensation is 40,000 euros each, the ministry's technical secretary general having accepted the claim made by the family and that there was responsibility on behalf of the administration for her death. Lucia Patrascu had unsuccessfully attempted to denounce her husband to the Guardia Civil in Puerto Pollensa. A short time later, she was stabbed to death by Ioan Ciutau.
The ministry's decision was based on a report by the Council of State, which had analysed events and concluded that "the victim was not treated in the proper manner, nor was she allowed to give an account of her story in the appropriate terms and in the appropriate place".
The Council states: "After having made her wait almost five hours and having had contact with five officers, the fact was that Lucia Patrascu left the station without having been treated properly and without filing a complaint, and without, therefore, the appropriate measures having been adopted for her due assistance and protection." The fact that a court in Inca archived a complaint against Guardia Civil officers, says the Council, did not mean that there was no administrative responsibility.
Around dawn on May 29, 2016, Lucia Patrascu went to the Puerto Pollensa station, fearful of threats from her husband. No statement was taken from her and nor was a report made. Later that morning, she was stabbed six times by Ciutau. This was in broad daylight on the balcony of their apartment. There were a number of witnesses to a murder that shocked Puerto Pollensa. He was later sentenced to 22 years.
From the outset, the family complained about the lack of action by officers. The Council of State's report has now led the ministry to accept that procedures were misapplied.