Ruth Ortiz: Reflections on a time of deep tragedy and ongoing change

Ruth Ortiz endured violence that extended beyond the immediate act, an extreme form of gender-based harm that Spain had not yet clearly named. Her children, Ruth and José, aged six and two, were killed by their father, José Bretón, in Córdoba on October 8, 2011. Ortiz recalls moments when the pain feels fresh, as if time had not moved on. Bretón remains imprisoned in the Herrera de la Mancha prison in Ciudad Real, serving a second-degree sentence. The case triggered a long process in which the crime was linked to a family fire at the father’s home, eventually revealing that the bones found in the bonfire belonged to his children. This painful history has shaped Ortiz’s response to ongoing violence and its perception within society.