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Puerto Hurraco massacre

SOLVED1990Puerto Hurraco, Extremadura, Spain3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

On the evening of 26 August 1990, brothers Emilio and Antonio Izquierdo walked into Carrera, the main street of Puerto Hurraco — a village in Extremadura, Spain, with 130 year-round residents that grew to about 200 each summer — armed with 12-gauge shotguns, and opened fire on neighbors gathered outside their homes and a local bar. In about fifteen minutes the brothers shot 21 people, killing nine and wounding twelve, before fleeing the village.

The attack grew out of a long-running feud between the Izquierdo and Cabanillas families that some accounts trace to the 19th century and a 1929 stabbing over a rejected relationship. Tensions in this generation escalated after Amadeo Cabanillas drove a plough onto Izquierdo-owned land in 1963. A widely repeated account holds that Amadeo also rejected a marriage proposal from Luciana Izquierdo — though a neighbor dismissed that story as a baseless rumor and said the enmity was rooted solely in land disputes — and that her brother Jerónimo Izquierdo took the rejection as a family insult, fatally stabbing Amadeo Cabanillas on 22 January 1967; Jerónimo was convicted and served 14 years in prison for the killing. The siblings' mother, Isabel Izquierdo, died in a house fire at the family home on 18 October 1984; investigators ruled the fire accidental, but her children blamed the Cabanillas family. In 1986 Jerónimo attacked Antonio Cabanillas with a knife — Cabanillas survived — and Jerónimo was interned in a psychiatric hospital on 8 August 1986, where he died nine days later.

On the day of the massacre, the brothers told their sisters they were going hunting, then hid in a village alley before opening fire on Carrera street, according to Emilio's later account to psychiatrists. Victims included two of Antonio Cabanillas's daughters, Encarnación (13) and Antonia (14); Manuel Cabanillas, shot after confronting the gunmen; 60-year-old Araceli Murillo, killed while trying to help the wounded girls; Antonia Murillo and Reinaldo Benítez, shot while trying to flee the village by car; José Penco, killed after returning to the village to help other victims; and Andrés Ojeda and Isabel Carrillo — the father and grandmother of six-year-old Guillermo Ojeda, who was shot in the head and survived after a coma — both of whom died at a hospital in Badajoz.

Civil Guard officers launched a manhunt that grew to as many as two hundred officers, along with dogs, vehicles, and a helicopter. Officer Blas Molina located and arrested Antonio Izquierdo the following morning; Emilio Izquierdo was found about an hour later. Neither brother resisted arrest.

Prosecutors also accused sisters Luciana and Ángela Izquierdo of instigating the killings, but a provincial court dismissed the charges against them in 1992, and they were committed to a psychiatric hospital in Merida instead. At trial in Badajoz in 1994, a court rejected an insanity defense and convicted Emilio and Antonio Izquierdo, sentencing each to 342 years in prison and ordering each to pay 300 million pesetas in compensation to victims.

All four siblings have since died: Luciana in January 2005, Ángela later that year, Emilio in December 2006 of cardiac-related causes, and Antonio by suicide in prison in April 2010, on the day he had been scheduled for release before application of the 2006 Parot doctrine delayed it by five years.

Key facts

Victims
Reinaldo Benítez, Isabel Carrillo, Araceli Murillo, José Penco, Manuel Cabanillas, Antonia Murillo, Encarnación Cabanillas, Andrés Ojeda, Antonia Cabanillas
Date
1990
Location
Puerto Hurraco, Extremadura, Spain
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1929

    A stabbing over a rejected relationship between an Izquierdo man and a Cabanillas woman occurred, an early episode cited in accounts of the two families' feud.

  2. 1963

    Amadeo Cabanillas drove a plough onto land owned by Manuel Izquierdo, beginning a new round of tension between the two families.

  3. 1967-01-22

    Jerónimo Izquierdo fatally stabbed Amadeo Cabanillas; Jerónimo was convicted and served 14 years in prison for the killing.

  4. 1984-10-18

    Isabel Izquierdo, mother of the Izquierdo siblings, died in a house fire at the family home; investigators ruled the fire accidental, but her children blamed the Cabanillas family.

  5. 1986-08-08

    Jerónimo Izquierdo, who had attacked Antonio Cabanillas with a knife earlier that year, was interned in a psychiatric hospital; he died there nine days later.

  6. 1990-08-26

    Emilio and Antonio Izquierdo shot 21 people on Carrera street in Puerto Hurraco over about fifteen minutes, killing nine and wounding twelve, then fled the village.

  7. 1990-08-27

    Sisters Luciana and Ángela Izquierdo traveled to Madrid and sought a meeting with President Felipe González at the Moncloa Palace but were not admitted.

  8. 1992

    A provincial court dismissed charges that Luciana and Ángela Izquierdo had instigated the killings; both were committed to a psychiatric hospital in Merida.

  9. 1994

    A court in Badajoz convicted Emilio and Antonio Izquierdo, sentencing each to 342 years in prison and ordering each to pay 300 million pesetas in compensation to victims.

  10. 2005-01-13

    Luciana Izquierdo died in the psychiatric hospital in Merida, aged 77.

  11. 2005-11

    Ángela Izquierdo died in the same hospital, aged 62.

  12. 2006-12-13

    Emilio Izquierdo died of cardiac-related causes while imprisoned in Badajoz.

  13. 2010-04-25

    Antonio Izquierdo died by suicide in the nurse unit of Badajoz prison, on the day he had been scheduled for release before the 2006 Parot doctrine delayed it by five years.

  14. 2015

    Neighbors of Puerto Hurraco requested that the long-derelict former Izquierdo family home be declared a ruin and demolished.

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People

  • Emilio Izquierdo

    CONVICTED

    Elder of the two Izquierdo brothers and, by his own account, the leader of the shooting; convicted in 1994 and sentenced to 342 years in prison. Died of cardiac-related causes in Badajoz prison on 13 December 2006.

  • Reinaldo Benítez

    VICTIM

    Killed while trying to flee the village by car with his brother Manuel Benítez and sister-in-law Antonia Murillo, who were also shot.

  • Luciana Izquierdo

    CHARGED

    Accused by the prosecutor of instigating her brothers' killings; a provincial court dismissed the charges in 1992 and she was committed to a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where she died in January 2005.

  • Isabel Carrillo

    VICTIM

    Grandmother of six-year-old Guillermo Ojeda, who was shot in the head and survived; Isabel died at Infanta Cristina Hospital in Badajoz.

  • Araceli Murillo

    VICTIM

    A 60-year-old woman killed while trying to help the wounded Cabanillas sisters.

  • José Penco

    VICTIM

    Killed at the village entrance after driving two wounded girls to Castuera and returning to help more victims.

  • Manuel Cabanillas

    VICTIM

    An émigré visiting the village for a family gathering; shot in the back after approaching and confronting the gunmen, and died at the hospital in Don Benito.

  • Ángela Izquierdo

    CHARGED

    Accused by the prosecutor of instigating her brothers' killings; a provincial court dismissed the charges in 1992 and she was committed to a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where she died in November 2005.

  • Antonia Murillo

    VICTIM

    Killed while trying to flee the village by car with her relatives Manuel and Reinaldo Benítez, who were also shot.

  • Encarnación Cabanillas

    VICTIM

    One of two Cabanillas sisters shot first as the gunmen entered Carrera street; killed at the scene at age 13.

  • Blas Molina

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Civil Guard officer who located and arrested Antonio Izquierdo in the manhunt on the morning after the shooting.

  • Andrés Ojeda

    VICTIM

    Father of six-year-old Guillermo Ojeda, who was shot in the head and survived; Andrés died at Infanta Cristina Hospital in Badajoz.

  • Antonio Izquierdo

    CONVICTED

    Convicted alongside his brother Emilio in 1994 and sentenced to 342 years in prison; witnesses identified him as the one who shot the Cabanillas sisters. Died by suicide in Badajoz prison on 25 April 2010, the day he had been scheduled for release.

  • Antonia Cabanillas

    VICTIM

    One of two Cabanillas sisters shot first as the gunmen entered Carrera street; died at a hospital in Don Benito roughly half an hour later, at age 14.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Puerto Hurraco, Extremadura, Spain

38.6331, -5.5500

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
On 26 August 1990, brothers Emilio and Antonio Izquierdo shot 21 people on the main street of Puerto Hurraco, Spain, killing nine and wounding twelve, in an attack rooted in a decades-long feud between their family and the Cabanillas family. Both brothers were convicted in 1994 and sentenced to 342 years in prison each.
Where did the massacre happen?
Puerto Hurraco, Extremadura, Spain.
Who was convicted?
Emilio Izquierdo (Elder of the two Izquierdo brothers and, by his own account, the leader of the shooting; convicted in 1994 and sentenced to 342 years in prison. Died of cardiac-related causes in Badajoz prison on 13 December 2006.) and Antonio Izquierdo (Convicted alongside his brother Emilio in 1994 and sentenced to 342 years in prison; witnesses identified him as the one who shot the Cabanillas sisters. Died by suicide in Badajoz prison on 25 April 2010, the day he had been scheduled for release.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.
More cases in Spain

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICPuerto Hurraco massacreWikipedia · 2026-07-12
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — elmundo.eselmundo.es · 2026-07-12
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — abc.esabc.es · 2026-07-12

Record history

First published
JUL 13, 2026