Enriqueta Martí lived in the crowded streets of Barcelona’s Raval district at the turn of the twentieth century, where rapid industrial growth left many families struggling to protect their children.
Her case centres on a series of child disappearances that gripped the city between 1909 and 1912. Contemporary police records and newspaper accounts describe how young children vanished from markets, doorways and tenement courtyards. The pattern suggested a single perpetrator who selected victims from the poorest neighbourhoods.
Martí presented herself as a healer and fortune-teller. Neighbours recalled her offering remedies and charms, yet few suspected the extent of her activities until evidence surfaced inside her own flat.
Early Life and Move to Barcelona
Enriqueta Martí was born in 1868 in a village near Valencia. She arrived in Barcelona around 1900, already in her early thirties. City directories list her as a seamstress and later as a domestic servant. By 1909 she had settled in a small apartment on Calle Poniente, an area known for overcrowding and petty crime.
She supplemented her income by selling herbal mixtures and performing simple rituals for local women. Court documents later noted that she cultivated an image of someone who could cure childhood ailments, a claim that gave her access to families with sick or missing children.
The Pattern of Disappearances
Between 1909 and 1912 Barcelona police logged at least twelve cases of children aged between three and nine who disappeared without trace. Most came from families living in the same few blocks. Parents reported that their children had been playing outside or running errands when they vanished. Searches yielded no bodies and few leads.
Investigators later connected several of these cases to Martí through witness statements. One mother identified her as the woman who had approached her child outside a bakery days before the boy went missing. Another family recalled Martí visiting their home under the pretext of selling ointments.
Discovery and Arrest
On 10 February 1912 a neighbour heard cries coming from Martí’s flat. Police officers forced entry and found a young girl, Teresita Guitart, locked in a back room. The child was malnourished but alive. Further search revealed bones, hair and items of children’s clothing hidden in trunks and under floorboards.
Martí was arrested the same day. Initial questioning produced contradictory statements. She first claimed the remains belonged to animals used in her remedies, then admitted she had taken in children whose parents could not care for them. Officers recovered additional evidence over the following weeks, including a ledger listing names and dates that matched several open missing-person files.
Investigation and Evidence
Barcelona’s judiciary assigned examining magistrate Enrique López to the case. Forensic examination of the bones confirmed they were human and belonged to at least three different children. Pathologists noted cut marks consistent with dismemberment. No conclusive proof emerged that Martí had sold body parts on the black market, although popular newspapers repeated the claim.
Police also uncovered correspondence suggesting Martí had contacts with individuals in other Spanish cities. Letters referred to “shipments” and payments, but investigators could not verify whether these related to children or to other illicit goods. The case remained focused on the Barcelona disappearances.
Legal Proceedings and Death
Martí was charged with multiple counts of kidnapping and murder. She remained in custody at the women’s prison on Calle Amàlia while the prosecution prepared its case. Public interest was intense; crowds gathered outside the courthouse on hearing days.
In May 1913, before the trial could begin, Martí died in her cell. Official records list the cause as tuberculosis. Some contemporary reports alleged suicide, yet prison medical notes contain no supporting detail. Her death left many questions unanswered and prevented a full judicial examination of the evidence.
Impact on Barcelona Policing
The Martí case prompted changes in how Barcelona police handled missing-child reports. A central register of disappearances was established in 1913, and officers received new instructions to treat repeated sightings of the same adult near play areas as potential warning signs. Social services also expanded their monitoring of families living in extreme poverty.
The episode exposed gaps in child-protection laws. Spanish legislators introduced stricter penalties for child abduction in 1914, although enforcement remained uneven for decades.
Conclusion
Enriqueta Martí’s arrest exposed a series of child disappearances that had gone largely unchecked in one of Europe’s fastest-growing cities. The evidence recovered from her home linked her directly to several missing children, yet her death before trial left the full scale of her actions unproven in court. The case remains a documented example of how urban poverty and weak institutional oversight allowed crimes against children to continue for years.