BARCELONA – Spain’s shocking toll of domestic violence rose in the past 24 hours as two more victims were killed, police said Wednesday.

A 36-year-old man suffocated his girlfriend then committed suicide by hanging himself in Barcelona.

The second murder took place in Cariñena, near Zaragoza in eastern Spain, where a 62-year-old was stabbed to death by her 72-year-old husband.

This brings the number of women killed in domestic violence in Spain this year to 25.

Prime Minister Jose Lluis Rodriguez Zapatero has promised to make bringing in a tough new law to crack down on domestic violence a priority of his government.

He plans to increase protection for victims and punishments for offenders.

Police in Barcelona said the victim was killed in a flat owned by a relative of the victim.

The boyfriend telephoned emergency services to confess the murder then killed himself.

The body of the 40-year-old woman was found by police who said it appeared she had been strangled.

The boyfriend, who lived with his brother and their parents, was already under a legal order not to go near another woman.

He also had a history of attempted murder dating from 2003.

Spanish National Radio reported the man had been suffering from depression for some time.

In the second case, the pensioner killed his 62-year-old wife by stabbing her near the heart.

The murder happened in the earlier hours of the morning but the cause was not clear.

Relatives discovered the body of the woman and the badly injured husband when they arrived to celebrate the First Communion of the couple’s grandson.

Police said the husband stabbed himself after the murder but was taken to hospital for treatment.

The Guardia Civil said the victim had never complained of being attacked.

Neighbours said it had seemed that the couple enjoyed a “happy marriage”.

Manuel Serrano said the husband seemed “a very peaceful man” and he had never heard arguments.

The couple have two daughters.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news