The murder of this female exchange student has shocked Mexico and Spain. Here’s what we know

From Claudia Tacoronte Aguilera/Instagram

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Authorities are investigating the murder of a Spanish exchange student in Mexico as a possible feminicide, in a case that has shocked the academic community in both countries.

Claudia Tacoronte Aguilera was reportedly killed during an armed robbery on Saturday in Cuautla, a city in the Mexican state of Morelos near Mexico City, according to authorities.

The Morelos prosecutor’s office said it is working with federal agencies on the case and is investigating it as a possible feminicide — in which a woman is murdered due to gender-related reasons — though it has not ruled out other motives.

The 21-year-old was studying early childhood education at Spain’s University of Granada (UGR) and had traveled to Mexico just a month ago on an academic exchange program at the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos (UAEM).

“Claudia had embarked on this academic journey with the enthusiasm of a young woman building her future. That an experience so closely tied to her education and personal projects has ended in this way causes deep sorrow throughout the Santa Brígida community,” the city council of her hometown in Gran Canaria said in a statement.

The university has demanded that the state prosecutor’s office conduct “an immediate, thorough investigation with a strict gender perspective to guarantee justice and prevent impunity.”

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has also demanded a thorough investigation.

“We want to get to the bottom of this,” he told reporters Monday, noting that Spanish authorities are in contact with the young woman’s family.

Morelos Governor Margarita González Saravia said state authorities are working to find the person responsible.

Miguel Banuelos/AFP/Getty Images

The killing happened Saturday night near a cultural center that was hosting a medicinal plant festival.

The young woman was killed as a result of an alleged robbery with a knife, according to the venue, which said that staff “immediately notified the authorities” after the incident.

She was staying at the center overnight for the festival, the state prosecutor said.

“Claudia came to this meeting with the desire to learn, live together and be part of a community gathered around knowledge, medicinal plants, health and collective care,” said the Tlahuilli Institute, which organized the event.

The killing happened in a state facing high levels of violence against women.

Morelos recorded 21 feminicide victims between January and July 2026, and at that time had one of the highest rates in the country, with 21 victims per 100,000 women, second only to Sinaloa, according to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.

While “femicide” — defined by the WHO as the gender-based killing of women — and “feminicide” are often used interchangeably in English, Paulina García-Del Moral, an associate professor at Canada’s University of Guelph, said there were subtle differences between the two terms in the Mexican context, with “feminicide” focusing more on the broader, structural conditions that led to the crime.

Such a case activates protocols that outline how prosecutors, police and forensic experts should carry out their investigations, the professor said.

“(The protocols) really emphasize both the use of a gender perspective – which means that they need to be cognizant of the ways in which gender shapes violence, how gender inequality might have affected the life of the woman that was murdered and her relationship to the alleged perpetrator, the context of violence in Mexico and her community specifically – and also the principle of due diligence under international law,” she said.

Tacoronte’s killing triggered student protests against gender-based violence in Morelos on Tuesday.

In Cuernavaca, Mexico, her classmates lit candles and left flowers at a memorial set up on Monday at UAEM’s Institute of Educational Sciences, where the young woman was doing her exchange program.

Pamela Martínez, a classmate at the Institute of Educational Sciences, said the community is going through a difficult time. “It is a time for solidarity and respect. We send our deepest respect to her family, her friends and her classmates,” Martínez told Reuters.

Margarito Perez Retana/Reuters

Frida, Tacoronte’s aerial dance teacher, remembered the young woman’s personality and the way she interacted with others: “I had the honor of teaching her aerial dance, and it was wonderful because everything she did was impeccable. She always had the best attitude, the best energy. She was very smiley and willing to do anything.”

In Spain, the University of Granada expressed its “strongest revulsion and absolute condemnation” for the murder of its student and conveyed condolences and solidarity with her family, friends and colleagues.

The institution also held a minute of silence on Monday in memory of Tacoronte and reiterated its call to eradicate all forms of violence against women.

The victim’s sister, Lara Tacoronte, expressed outrage in an Instagram video, saying: “I don’t understand people or the society we live in. This happens every day, especially to women, and it’s not fair. It is the most violent and cruelest way to die.”

Morelos Attorney General Fernando Blumenkron Escobar met with officials of the Spanish Consulate in Mexico on Monday “to guarantee justice” for Tacoronte and her friends and family.

The governor of Morelos also met with the Spanish consul, Marcos Rodríguez Cantero, to offer more information about the case.

“We are receiving admirable and much-appreciated cooperation from the state authorities, and we hope that things will be resolved in the coming moments,” said Rodríguez Cantero.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her Foreign Ministry is in touch with the Spanish Consulate and that the security cabinet is collaborating with the Morelos Attorney General’s Office in the investigation.

CNN has contacted the Morelos Attorney General’s Office for more information.

Michael Rios contributed to this report.

来自克劳迪娅·塔科龙特·阿奎莱拉/Instagram

这是西班牙语文章

当局正在调查一名西班牙交换生在墨西哥被谋杀的案件，该案可能构成杀害女性罪，震惊了两国学术界。

据当局称，克劳迪娅·塔科龙特·阿吉莱拉 (Claudia Tacoronte Aguilera) 于周六在墨西哥城附近的莫雷洛斯州库奥特拉市遭遇武装抢劫时被杀害。

莫雷洛斯州检察官办公室表示，他们正在与联邦机构合作调查此案，并将其作为一起可能的杀害女性案件进行调查——即一名女性因性别相关原因而被谋杀——尽管他们尚未排除其他动机。

这位 21 岁的年轻人正在西班牙格拉纳达大学 (UGR) 学习幼儿教育，一个月前他参加了莫雷洛斯州立自治大学 (UAEM) 的学术交流项目来到墨西哥。

“克劳迪娅怀着年轻女性对未来的热情开启了这段学术之旅。这段与她的教育和个人计划紧密相关的经历以这种方式结束，令圣布里吉达社区深感悲痛，”她家乡大加那利岛的市议会在一份声明中表示。

该大学要求州检察官办公室“立即进行彻底调查，严格从性别角度出发，以保障正义并防止有罪不罚现象”。

西班牙外交大臣何塞·曼努埃尔·阿尔瓦雷斯也要求进行彻底调查。

“我们想彻底查清此事，”他周一告诉记者，并指出西班牙当局正在与这名年轻女子的家人联系。

莫雷洛斯州州长玛格丽塔·冈萨雷斯·萨拉维亚表示，州政府正在努力寻找肇事者。

米格尔·巴努埃洛斯/法新社/盖蒂图片社

这起谋杀案发生在周六晚上，地点位于一个正在举办药用植物节的文化中心附近。

据该场所称，这名年轻女子因一起持刀抢劫案而被杀害。该场所表示，事件发生后，工作人员“立即通知了当局”。

州检察官表示，她为了参加节日活动，在中心过夜。

“克劳迪娅带着学习、共同生活以及成为围绕知识、药用植物、健康和集体关怀而聚集的社区的一份子的愿望来参加这次会议，”组织此次活动的特拉维利研究所表示。

这起谋杀案发生在一个女性遭受暴力侵害程度很高的州。

根据国家公共安全系统执行秘书处的数据，莫雷洛斯州在 2026 年 1 月至 7 月期间记录了 21 起杀害女性案件，当时是全国最高的案件发生率之一，每 10 万名女性中有 21 名受害者，仅次于锡那罗亚州。

虽然“femicide”（世界卫生组织将其定义为基于性别的杀害女性）和“feminicide”在英语中经常互换使用，但加拿大圭尔夫大学副教授保利娜·加西亚-德尔·莫拉尔表示，在墨西哥语境中，这两个术语之间存在细微差别，“feminicide”更侧重于导致这种犯罪的更广泛的结构性条件。

这位教授说，此类案件会启动相关规程，规定检察官、警察和法医专家应如何开展调查。

“（这些议定书）确实强调了性别视角的使用——这意味着他们需要意识到性别如何塑造暴力，性别不平等如何影响被谋杀妇女的生活以及她与涉嫌施暴者的关系，墨西哥的暴力背景以及她所在社区的具体情况——以及国际法规定的尽职调查原则，”她说。

塔科隆特遇害事件引发了莫雷洛斯州学生周二举行的反对性别暴力的抗议活动。

在墨西哥库埃纳瓦卡，她的同学们周一在墨西哥国立自治大学教育科学研究所设立的纪念碑前点燃蜡烛、献上鲜花，这位年轻女子当时正在那里参加交换项目。

教育科学学院的同学帕梅拉·马丁内斯表示，整个社区正经历一段艰难时期。“现在是团结和尊重的时刻。我们向她的家人、朋友和同学致以最深切的慰问，”马丁内斯告诉路透社。

马加里托·佩雷斯·雷塔纳/路透社

塔科龙特的空中舞蹈老师弗里达回忆起这位年轻女孩的性格以及她与他人相处的方式：“我有幸教她空中舞蹈，那段经历非常美好，因为她做的每件事都无可挑剔。她总是充满热情，活力四射。她总是面带微笑，乐于助人。”

西班牙格拉纳达大学对该校学生遇害事件表示“最强烈的愤慨和绝对的谴责”，并向遇害学生的家人、朋友和同事表示慰问和声援。

该机构周一还举行了一分钟默哀仪式，悼念塔科龙特，并重申了其消除一切形式的暴力侵害妇女行为的呼吁。

受害者的姐姐拉拉·塔科隆特在一段Instagram视频中表达了她的愤怒，她说：“我不理解人们，也不理解我们所生活的这个社会。这种事每天都在发生，尤其发生在女性身上，这太不公平了。这是最暴力、最残忍的死法。”

莫雷洛斯州总检察长费尔南多·布卢门克龙·埃斯科瓦尔周一会见了西班牙驻墨西哥领事馆官员，以“确保塔科龙特及其亲友获得公正待遇”。

莫雷洛斯州州长还会见了西班牙领事马科斯·罗德里格斯·坎特罗，提供了有关此案的更多信息。

罗德里格斯·坎特罗说：“我们得到了州政府令人钦佩和非常感谢的合作，我们希望事情能在接下来的时间里得到解决。”

墨西哥总统克劳迪娅·欣鲍姆表示，外交部已与西班牙领事馆取得联系，安全内阁正在与莫雷洛斯州检察长办公室合作进行调查。

CNN已联系莫雷洛斯州检察长办公室以获取更多信息。

Michael Rios对本报道亦有贡献。