There is a legend that flies over the Raval neighborhood, in the city of Barcelona.The name of its protagonist is Enriqueta Marti, better known as «The Raval Vampire» .Its case occupies the covers of all the newspapers of the time and I have just gone down in history as a kidnapper, pimp and serial killer of children.In Mysterious we go into one of the most macabre episodes of the city , which has inspired novels, movies, plays...Are you with us?
"The Vampire of Raval"
We are located in 1912, the year in which the kidnapping of a five-year-old girl named Teresita Guitart leads to the arrest of Enriqueta Marti.One of her neighbors warned the police after believing she had seen the girl with shaved hair on Enriqueta's floor, at number 29 on Ponent Street (now Joaquin Costa).police records on the floor, another minor and a series of spooky objects were found.On, he dedicated himself to making ointments from the children's body flows and later selling them to the highest classes in the city.
In the register of two other floors in those who had lived before, human remains were found.In addition, the investigation revealed that in the past it had been stopped by running a brothel where children were exploited between 3 and 14 years.to his contacts in the Catalan bourgeoisie, the trial was never held.Enrique finally entered the prison of Queen Amalia and spent the rest of his life there.As regards his death, there are two versions: in the first one is lynched by his companions of the jail and in the second victim of a uterus cancer .
The true story of Enriqueta M arti
However, what happens if we tell you that the legend is the product of an invention ? Several historians deny the legend of Vampira del Raval and claim that it is the result of adding high doses of fiction to a true story about a person with serious disorders.It seems that the turning point in Enriqueta's life came in 1905, when his son Alejandro died of malnutrition at ten months of life; Everything indicates that it was this experience that led Enriqueta to kidnap Teresa Guitart .At this time, the crib asked her to register her son Benedict in the death record instead of Alejandro for that.to avoid being called fifth (apparently, this mode of evasion was a common practice at that time).
As compensation for this favor, and to avoid the talk of having been a widowed mother, her When he was born a year later to his newborn daughter Angelita, in this way, Enriqueta and Angelita were always conceived as mother and daughter, and their relationship would never have been in doubt if it were not because on February 10, 1912 Teresita was kidnapped.However, Enriqueta only rapo because she had lice.She kept her locked up for three weeks in her residence, until on February 27 a guard sensed that the kidnapped was on the first floor of the building, following the announcement of a neighbor.
The construction of a legend
From that time, the press amplified its crimes in search of media morbidity : it was unfairly attributed between five and ten murders and was blamed for witchcraft .The judicial accusation, on the other On the other hand, he discovered that he had previously gone through the dungeons for pimping (corruption of minors) and robbery.The media echoed the discovery in his previous homes of children's bones and blood-stained rags.
However, the doctors determined that the bones belonged to animals and that the panuelos were stained by their own blood losses due to their cancer of Most likely, then, it was that he had never murdered anyone, so his imprisonment responded only to preventive measures before his social vision as a serial killer It was a pretext, in short, that would work as a smoke screen so that the complex situation of Barcelona was not discussed after the events of the Tragic Week, in 1909.Even during the time spent behind bars, the press published all its movements and attempts of suicide, until he died a victim of the cancer he suffered.
The only concern of the newspapers seemed to be the sale of his copies.And hey, if the game went well! The legend that they they created with their false accusations is still moti If you have been interested in history today, we encourage you to discover even more secrets about this (false) legend of Vampira del Raval in the Elsa Plaza book, Dismantling the case of the Vampire of Raval .
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Which version convinces you the most? Do you think there really was a convenient mediation invention or do you think there was truth in the legend? Share with us all your impressions, we will read you delighted!
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