Balearics fall silent for murdered woman

Evelio Antich, the general secretary of the national government's delegation in the Balearics, said: "All the administrations and the whole of society in general must eliminate this type of case. Above all, women who feel threatened must be encouraged to report (threats) so that the entire administration is able to prevent it ever happening again."

The minute's silence took place at midday at the delegation's headquarters. Among those who participated were the minister for social services, Fina Santiago, the head of the Guardia Civil in the Balearics, Jaume Barceló, and his counterpart with the National Police, Antonio Jarabo.

The president (speaker) of the Balearic parliament, Xelo Huertas, also called for a minute's silence. "We strongly condemn the murder of Lucia Patrascu and hope that such an event never occurs again."

All workers at the Council of Majorca stood at the doors of the building at midday in showing the "total rejection and condemnation of the brutal murder" of Lucia by her husband. Minutes of silence were also held in the other three islands at the offices of the islands' councils.

Of events on Sunday themselves, a neighbour, Joana Antònia Company, said today that she was still shaking because of what happened. She initially thought that the man, Ioan Ciotan, was beating his wife but then it became clear that he was stabbing her. "It was truly horrible. He came downstairs and I asked him what he had done. He replied very quietly and in perfect Spanish that he was a murderer and had killed her because she was a bitch."

Ioan Ciotan's words have also been reported as: "I'm the murderer. You can take me away when you want to. I've killed her because she was a bitch. It was me. It was me."