British mother-of-three Victoria Hart (33) was killed this Saturday in her home in Alhaurín el Grande, Málaga, in front of her children. Soon after, her ex-partner handed himself in to police. Here’s what we know about the murder case.
UK national and resident in Spain Victoria Hart was found dead in her home at around 11:40am in the La Paca residential area of Alhaurín el Grande, with stab wounds to the neck and a knife lying next to her.
Police were called after neighbours heard screams coming from inside the property and her 11-year-old son had run out to raise the alarm.
Hart’s twin daughters, aged seven, were also in the house at the time of the murder.
Who was Victoria Hart?
Victoria Hart was a hairdresser and beautician who worked from a salon in her home in Alhaurín el Grande.
She reportedly moved to Spain from the West Midlands in the UK as a teenager, along with her mother and sister.
Neighbours described her as a “very kind and hardworking person who lived for her children”.
Have they arrested anyone for the crime?
Yes, police have arrested Hart’s ex-partner and father to her children, Spaniard Juan Antonio Rueda.
The couple had been married for around a decade before they reportedly separated last year.
Hart’s son allegedly phoned his grandmother to say that his father had killed his mother.
Rueda handed himself in at the nearby Alhaurín de la Torre prison after the incident. He told them he had done “something very bad”, that he had “taken a knife”, “gone mad” and “stabbed the mother of his children”.
Victoria’s children allegedly witnessed the crime and told police officers what had happened when they arrived to help their mother.
“My father killed my mother; he left her the knife,” the eldest is said to have shouted as went out into the street to plead for help, as stated in Spanish daily ABC.
Victoria’s ex-partner is originally from Alhaurín el Grande, and ran a chicken rotisserie in the town. The case is pending prosecution by a judge.
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Had there been any signs that her partner was violent or that she was in danger?
Yes, Hart had reported Rueda in October 2025, after saying suffering “death threats” and “manipulation” tactics.
According to the authorities, she was also already registered on Spain’s VioGén database, a software system used by the police to assess the risk of gender-based violence. Her case was marked low risk and restraining orders had been put in place prohibiting contact and approach, however Rueda did maintain contact with his children.
Neighbours also said they had witnessed “psychological abuse through derogatory comments directed at her”.
“We knew they had separated and that things weren’t going well,” one neighbour told El Mundo, “but we didn’t know things were this bad”.
Andalusian Minister of Equality Loles López condemned the crime on behalf of the Andalusian Government, expressing her dismay and sorrow at this latest case of gender-based violence.
“We are facing a problem that affects all of society; therefore, men and women must step forward to eradicate this scourge,” she said.
What’s been the reaction by locals in Hart’s hometown?
On Monday January 26th, the town council of Alhaurín el Grande declared a day of official mourning. A vigil was held in the town hall square, where there was minute’s silence in honour of Hart.
The victim’s three children were in attendance, as well as her sister, mother, and other relatives. After the memorial, her family symbolically released several white balloons into the sky.
“We extend our deepest condolences and support to the family and loved ones of the victim, as well as our strongest condemnation and outrage at this act of gender violence, a social scourge that seriously violates human rights and that we must eradicate with the involvement of the entire society,” the third deputy mayor of Alhaurín el Grande, Macarena Herrera said during the event.
The funeral is due to take place at San Gaudencio cemetery in Alhaurín el Grande on Wednesday January 28th.
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How can I help?
Hart’s friends and family have set up a GoFundMe campaign, in order to help her children and pay for urgent expenses, which include food, clothing, and daily care.
“We are raising funds to help ease this immediate burden and to provide some stability for the children while the family navigates the unimaginable”, the page states.
Are gender-based crimes common in Spain?
This is the first femicide of the year in the province of Málaga, but it is the fifth nationwide, and the third in Andalusia.
Last year 47 women were killed in gender-based crimes. In total, there have been 1,342 victims of these types of crimes since records began in 2003.
READ ALSO: How Spain is struggling to curb the scourge of femicide
