More than 1,300 women have been officially recognised as killed by current or former male partners in Spain since the official statistical series began in 2003, according to figures cited in the debate. RTVE reported that a possible gender-violence killing in Gijón, Asturias, could bring the 2026 total from 44 to 45 and the cumulative figure since 2003 to 1,385, subject to official classification. The count covers killings by partners or former partners, not every homicide of a woman.
Wild had said that 44 women murdered by men in a year represented a very small proportion of Spain’s population of about 50 million, while expressing the hope that the number would eventually fall to zero. The comment came during an interview with Ada Colau, a candidate for Frente Amplio. Montero said the population comparison minimised gender-based violence.
She responded on 14 November 2026 at a campaign event in Plaza del Pilar in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Wild’s interview had also drawn attention for its exchange about migrant origins, covered in an earlier report.
Montero argued that the risk of violence extends beyond killings. She said one in two women in Spain experiences some form of gender-based violence during her life, including at work or at home. The claim concerns a broad range of violence, rather than only lethal attacks. Her response also referred to coercive control and sexual violence, as well as insults and humiliation; she also cited physical assault.
She said children might grow up seeing their mothers abused, and argued that intimate-partner killings are the most extreme outcome of a wider pattern of violence against women. Montero also said men with large audiences had a particular responsibility not to trivialise such violence or treat women as inferior or as their property.
Official annual totals for women killed by partners or former partners were 52 in 2020, 49 in 2021, 50 in 2022 and 58 in 2023, according to figures cited by El Debate. The 44 deaths discussed by Wild were below several of those recent annual totals. The 2026 figure remained subject to change following the possible Gijón case.
Referring to the interview’s participants as four candidates and two fact-checkers, Montero said a feminist should have been included to explain why Wild’s comment was unacceptable. She criticised both his wording and the format of the discussion, arguing that it lacked a feminist voice able to explain the issue. Her remarks formed part of a public political dispute over how gender violence and official victim statistics are framed.
