Parents sell 14-year-old daughter for €5,000 and five bottles of whiskey

Authorities in Catalonia and Navarra have arrested five people involved in the sale and purchase of a 14-year-old girl.

According to the investigation, the girl was allegedly sold for €5,000, five bottles of whiskey, and basic groceries.

The purpose was reportedly to marry her to the 21-year-old son of the buyers. 

Sources close to the case indicate that the marriage took place according to a Romani cultural ritual and has no legal civil validity.

The case originated in January in Corella, a town in Navarra, northern Spain, when local police received information that a couple had allegedly sold their daughter to marry her to an unknown man.

The alert was passed on to the Guardia Civil, which issued a search order for the girl, but she could not initially be located.

In October, Mossos d’Esquadra officers in Les Borges Blanques, western Catalonia,  found the girl begging outside a local supermarket.

She was taken to a police station, where officers connected her to the case reported in Navarra.

The Guardia Civil subsequently arrested the girl’s parents, both 35, in Navarra. Meanwhile, the Mossos d’Esquadra arrested the alleged buyers in Mollerussa, aged 40 and 42, as well as their son.

The three detainees in Catalonia are under investigation on suspicion of human trafficking for the purpose of forced marriage.

The court ordered that they be prohibited from contacting the minor, though they were released pending further proceedings.

The girl was initially placed under the care of Catalonia's child protection services (DGPPIA).

However, sources say that she has now returned to her family after stating that she does not consider herself a victim.

One case so far this year

So far this year, official records show only one forced marriage case in Catalonia. The figure marks a significant decrease compared to the average of nearly 14 cases annually in recent years.

Since records began in 2009, a total of 235 cases have been identified, with notable year-to-year variation. If no additional cases are reported, this would become the year with the fewest recorded cases to date.

The highest number of cases occurred in 2013, with 26 detected, more than half involving minors.

More recently, 2023 also registered a relatively high figure, with 18 cases identified, most of them involving adults.

Overall, since record-keeping began, slightly more than half of all detected cases have involved minors: 124 out of 235.