Father who killed son with a machete in Cabo Blanco was high on Cocaine
The hotel waiter who fatally stabbed his 10-year-old son with a machete in Cabo Blanco, south Tenerife, last Friday had cocaine in his system at the time of the attack, according to results from his autopsy.
Spain’s Ministry of Equality has officially classified the killing as a case of violencia vicaria (vicarious violence) meaning the child was murdered as an act of gender-based violence against the mother.
The incident took place in the early hours of 20th February in a residential area of Cabo Blanco, in the municipality of Arona, south Tenerife.
Child Killed, Mother Seriously Injured
The 35-year-old father allegedly killed his son with a machete and seriously injured the child’s 26-year-old mother before being shot dead by officers from the Guardia Civil, who he also attacked.
According to reports, emergency services were alerted at around 1:00am following a distress call. When officers arrived at the property, they encountered the suspect described as “highly agitated and armed with a machete”.
During the confrontation, the man reportedly attacked a Guardia Civil officer, causing a shoulder injury. Officers then discharged their firearms, fatally wounding the suspect at the scene.
Judicial Police investigators are working on the hypothesis that the attacker may have been acting under the influence of hallucinogenic substances. The autopsy has confirmed the presence of cocaine.
There had been no prior complaints of gender-based violence registered against the man.
Case Confirmed as Gender-Based and Vicarious Violence
The Ministry of Equality confirmed the sexist nature of the crime, officially recognising the boy as a victim of vicarious violence — a form of abuse in which children are harmed in order to inflict maximum suffering on the mother.
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, publicly condemned the killing, as well as the murder of a 28-year-old woman in Navarra on the same day in a separate case of gender violence.
In a statement shared on social media, Sánchez expressed his “deepest condolences” to the victims’ families and stressed the need to eradicate gender-based and vicarious violence “without excuses or hesitation”.
Rising National Figures
Following these latest confirmed cases, the Ministry of Equality reports that 10 women have been killed by their partners or former partners in Spain, including the Canary Islands, so far in 2026, bringing the total to 1,353 since records began in 2003.
The number of children killed in cases of gender violence against their mothers now stands at two in 2026, and 67 since official records began in 2013.
The investigation into the Cabo Blanco tragedy remains ongoing.
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