After a Double Tragedy: Honours, Gender Violence, and Public Trust

Sin news about the decorations awarded to Juan Fortuny de Pedro, a 66-year-old retired provincial police commissioner who left the force in January 2023 after a 44-year career that saw him rise to the second-in-command of the Catalonia police. As is remembered, last week he killed his former partner and his ex-wife in two separate towns and then took his own life. Opinions about the profiles built after the massacre, praising an unquestionable service record, a reserved yet affable character, and the tribute given when he retired, are not welcome here. He kept the weapon. It surprised many around him that such a consummate professional could also be a multiple killer. That says little about the instincts of the security forces that supported him through four decades of service, including the fight against gender-based violence. It was after a moment of silence for one of his victims, two empowered women who asserted their own choices and paid a high price for it, that questions were raised with the regional government representative about recent honors awarded to the public official such as the Civil Merit and the Military Merit Cross, and whether these honors would be withdrawn. The response suggested that the process takes time and must be studied. It is regrettable that machismo terrorism does not rest like a holiday, and that the bureaucracy will resume work in September to decide if the State should continue honoring the man who left five orphans and cut the lives of Pilar and Anges, who bore those names, or strip him of the honors still held. Any action short of immediate removal, by decree or any required mechanism, would be an insult to the fallen, to those who mourn them, and to all women. The Lleida town hall has moved faster, initiating procedures the day after the double crime to strip him of the Santa Cecilia Medal for professional merits with a white distinguishing badge that the Municipal Guard granted in 2015.