Belén L. was released on €80,000 bail after the first autopsy pointed to a heart attack in the case of architect Josep Juanpere, who died at the couple's apartment in Baqueira. Investigators are examining what happened before his death, and the Vielha court is considering a possible homicide.
Belén L. had been arrested in Madrid and appeared before the Vielha court on Friday, 25 September 2026. The judge ordered preventive detention but allowed her release on bail while examining her alleged connection to the death. Agencia EFE reported the arrest and the opening of the judicial investigation.
The money was deposited within two hours, and Belén L. obtained provisional release. She remains under investigation for a possible homicide offence linked to Juanpere's death. The court's decision is not a finding of guilt.
Spanish media reports have described poisoning as one working hypothesis, though it has not been publicly established as the cause of death.
The legal case moved forward despite the initial autopsy. Several reports said doctors first treated the death as natural before investigators continued examining the surrounding facts.
Investigators have focused on gaps in the account of the hours before Juanpere died. He and Belén L. had been together for two years and chose to spend Christmas at his second home in the resort.
Juanpere had already suffered an episode of illness on 24 December and was taken to hospital. After recovering several hours later, he was discharged on Christmas Day and spent the day normally, information from the account under investigation.
On 26 December, he stopped answering calls. His partner also became unreachable, a detail that drew investigators' attention.
Belén L. was reportedly interested in natural therapies. That may explain why no medical professional was contacted when Juanpere became unwell. This remains a reported possibility, not an established explanation for his death.
The family's alarm grew when the architect's nephew called repeatedly at the Baqueira residence. He waited nearly an hour. No one answered, and the door stayed closed.
When he entered, he found Juanpere dead. Belén L. was practising yoga and appeared to be in shock. The nephew called emergency services himself.
He is now a central witness in the investigation and is in hospital in an induced coma because of a pulmonary illness. During the nine months since the death, he has given evidence on numerous occasions.
His condition creates a serious practical problem: the case depends heavily on reconstructing the sequence of events inside the apartment.
The Mossos d'Esquadra arrested Belén L. on Wednesday in Madrid. Officers from the Criminal Investigation Division in the Alt Pirineu i Aran area are handling the inquiry, which remains under judicial secrecy at the Vielha court.
The Tribunal Superior de Justícia de Catalunya confirmed the arrest, describing the woman as allegedly connected to her partner's death in Baqueira. The Catalan police force also said publicly that the investigation was being conducted under secrecy.
The case had already led to a formal restriction. In January, the architect's partner was stripped of her passport after investigators identified unanswered issues. After her release, the court kept restrictions in place, including a ban on leaving Spain, Mossos d'Esquadra said. The case remains under judicial secrecy, and the public record does not establish the precise evidence behind the homicide suspicion.
The court's decision to seek preventive detention with an €80,000 bail option shows that the inquiry has moved beyond the original medical explanation. It does not establish guilt.
The earlier court action was also covered in a previous report on the Vielha proceedings. The central facts have not changed: the first autopsy indicated an infarction, while the judicial inquiry examines whether the surrounding circumstances fit that conclusion.
The case turns on a clash between the preliminary medical finding and a series of unanswered events. Calls went unanswered, and the nephew could not get through the door before finding Juanpere dead. The court is also examining why investigators are pursuing a possible homicide.
None of these details proves criminal responsibility on its own. Together, they explain why the court has kept the case open. Bail did not end the proceedings.
The €80,000 bail changed Belén L.'s custody status, but not her legal position as an investigated person. The Vielha court still has to examine the missing hours and weigh the testimony against the medical evidence. The original explanation did not settle the case.
