Almost no neighbor from the El Rocío neighborhood in the municipality of Isla Cristina in Huelva wants to be photographed for the newspaper or speak on television about the bloody shooting that took place in the small square bordering Cartaya street this Sunday around 10 p.m. At that time, two hooded men on a motorcycle fired in the street at half of the Baba family, a man accused of a fatal shooting nearly two years ago in the El Torrejón neighborhood in the capital of Huelva. The mother of Baba, 62 years old, his pregnant sister eight months along, 39 years old, and a 16-year-old minor, completely unrelated to the settling of scores between rival clans linked to drug trafficking that the Civil Guard is already investigating, died.
To the three fatalities – four if you add the eight-month-old baby the deceased pregnant woman was carrying – are added two injured. The most seriously injured is 18 years old and is the son of the pregnant woman who was shot, nephew of Baba, therefore. The second injured is a 16-year-old minor, who also has no family relation to the rival clans. Sources from the investigation point out that the origin of the shooting is a “settling of scores” related to family disputes over drug trafficking, although “no hypothesis” is ruled out.
And the pain that remains also grows as an alert. In anticipation that the shooting with three fatalities could trigger new confrontations, the Government Subdelegation in Huelva confirmed this Monday the preventive activation of special surveillance devices by the National Police in the neighborhoods of El Torrejón (where a shooting occurred in 2024) and Pérez Cubillas in Huelva city, due to possible family links, as well as near the funeral homes to prevent tension spikes while the Institute of Legal Medicine performs forensic autopsies. In parallel, a psychological care protocol was coordinated with the Red Cross to assist relatives in the area.
Investigators are trying to locate the perpetrators of the shooting. The alleged killers fled on a motorcycle which they later set on fire in a pine forest area near a campsite. They did this to “distract attention” and caused a fire outbreak that was extinguished by the quick intervention of users and owners of the campsite, as well as the fire department, according to the mayor of Isla Cristina.
The Government Subdelegate, María José Rico, guaranteed this Monday a “broad security deployment,” in which the Civil Guard activated a “very powerful” device for the search and location of the attackers, “perimeter closing the municipal area and increasing surveillance at border frontiers.” The killers would already be far from a neighborhood that this Monday lived in a silence of terror.
Fear in the body
Only without cameras around, neighbors say they have fear ingrained in them since Sunday night when they heard the bursts of gunfire, which some initially attributed to firecrackers or fireworks. “But there are no festivals in town nor was it any of that,” explains a woman very affected because she knew well the deceased minor, named Hugo. “And that boy? What fault did he have in all this? What a great pity!” she says before bursting into tears. A young woman beside her nods. “He was very cheerful and a very good person.”
Hugo, who was originally from Lepe but had been living in Isla Cristina for some years, “was in the wrong place at the wrong time”, adds another young man who does not want to delve much because what happened in his neighborhood has been something “very big.” Fear? “Of course we are afraid, afraid and respectful,” says another guy. Neighbors gather at the entrance of a small bar next to the small square where the shooting occurred. “This is unbearable”, says a lady. Next to her, another woman nods. More than a dozen bullet impacts are visible on the facade of the apartment block where the deceased pregnant woman and her mother lived.
After the shots, investigators worked for several hours in the area, collecting bullet casings and analyzing the crime scene. This Monday at noon there was no trace of the Police. Despite the bloody shooting, neighbors insist the neighborhood is peaceful and nothing like this had ever happened. “This is quiet. We are not used to this,” laments a man. The mayor of Isla Cristina, Jenaro Orta, insists that humble, very calm, and peaceful people live in the neighborhood and the incident was a “punctual and regrettable” event in a fishing town and “eminently tourist” that is now, precisely, in full high season. The hotel and beach area is less than a kilometer from where the fatal shooting took place.
Those who do not even want to talk to journalists shrug their shoulders at questions and quickly put distance. “This is ruin, ruin. I don’t know anything,” says a young man with gold chains who quickly walks away from the place.
At around 1:00 p.m. this Monday, there was a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the fatal shooting, in which the mayor of Isla Cristina, the Government Subdelegate, and other authorities offered condolences to the families of the deceased. The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno (PP), also asked the Government to “strengthen all necessary instruments” against drug trafficking after the three deaths in Isla Cristina and the death also from gunshot wounds of a 45-year-old resident of Utrera (Seville).
In this Sevillian municipality, the Civil Guard opened an investigation to clarify the events that occurred in the Barriada del Tinte around 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, when “three gunshots” were heard and a person “was left lying in the public road” and finally died.
“This is unbearable. Drug trafficking cannot run rampant in Andalusia. It is evident that crime is gaining ground and that resources are lacking,” he said yesterday on his X account. Moreno focused on the Executive, presided over by Pedro Sánchez, “as responsible for guaranteeing security.” “It must strengthen all necessary instruments to combat this barbarity,” he added.
The second vice president of the Junta and Minister of Tourism, Justice, Deregulation, and Local Administration, Manuel Gavira (Vox), also demanded “more resources for security forces agents and much harsher penalties for criminals.” “What happened in Isla Cristina is shocking. Four people murdered, including a minor and a baby, in an alleged settling of scores between clans. Spain needs more security, more resources for our agents, and much harsher penalties for criminals,” he said on X.
Authorities requested “caution, prudence, and discretion” to avoid interfering with actions coordinated by the duty court. They also requested anonymous and confidential citizen collaboration through phone number 062 to provide any clues that help locate the perpetrators of the crime.
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